Hi, I`m intending to have some work done on my house, and I`m wondering what effect the following things would have on the property value. Firstly, off-road parking is going to make a difference of some degree, but what I`d like to know is how do the various options compare, i.e. block paving, concrete, tarmac or gravel. Someone has told me that "only block paving ads value", someone else has said "it dosn`t make a difference as long as there`s off-road parking". Secondly, what kind of per cent would turning the loft into a fourth bedroom increase the value by? Thanks Mark
All these questions depend entirely on the area in which the house is situated. If there's tonnes of on-street unrestricted parking, then off road parking won't be as valuable as it would be for a city centre property, where the nearest free parking is 3 miles away.
As to the surface of the parking, this would depend on the aesthetics of the area and the taste of the potential purchaser. There's also no point in dressing mutton as lamb. Having a spectactular driveway on a delapidated property will please no-one.
Personally, I'm not too keen on gravel. It looks great when laid, but spreads around and is hard to maintain. I quite like tarmac, as it peaceful on the eye, low maintenance and doesn't draw attention to itself. Block paving can look OK, but sometimes is too vibrant, and takes attention away from what you should be looking at, the planting and the architecture.
Again, the value of a loft conversion depends on many factors.
Some builders don't give a toss, and build it as cheaply as they can, thus destroying the value of the work. They do horrible things like not planning the stairs, so that first floor rooms below are disfigured and the stairs use all of the apex roof space, or not planning the floor joists or roof insulation properly, so the head room is too low. Such poor attention to detail can dramatically reduce the value of the work.
Other things that can affect the value of loft conversions are ugly front dormers (Velux skylights aren't usually a problem), or over-development of the property. Adding two loft bedrooms to a cramped 3 bed terrace with only one toilet and a single reception won't create as much value as adding the same two bedrooms to a spacious 3 bed detached property already fitted with ensuite, family bathroom and downstairs cloakroom. However, even this situation could be reversed if the cramped terraced house is in a student area and the bedrooms count as "lettable rooms".
I don't know how it is in general, and it is a bit of a case of "one man's meat...", so...
All points IMHO:
Any off-road parking adds value. Definitely. It would be rare to get a buyer who misses the bit of garden that used to be the drive.
Concrete's the worst appearance wise, unless it's that finished patterned stuff that looks like paving, in which case it depends on how well it's done. Blocks are a fashion trend, which doesn't mean I don't like them. I don't particularly like new-red-brick blockwork, because everyone's got it and it seems a bit trite to me. But it's functional and I don't hate it with a vengeance either. Tarmac's nice if done properly but don't drop engine oil on it and gravel can be nice, but need maintenance (levelling/compacting) if you wish to retain a non loose surface. Actually, railway ballast isn't bad for a car standing, I've done that before. Drains well and looks OK in small areas next to greenery. Does silt up and get weeds though.
I think, if the driveway is basically OK and presentable, in any medium, it's presence will add some value or at least leave a good impression.
In short, I'd put gravel and concrete at the bottom of the list and look at paving/blockwork. But try to do something pleasing to the eye and functional, eg: will it survive a car jack with a 2" wide base on it? BTW, reclaimed railway ballast makes an *excellent* foundation for any type of drive, if rammed down with a vibroplate compactor, which is easy to use. Useless tip: 8" compacts to 6" for your volume calculations.
Quite a bit I would have thought, but of course it will cost a fair bitto do.
3->4 upgrade makes a noticeable difference if you have a couple of kids, so I would consider the types of buyers you get in your area. Leave some flexibility (someone could use it as a study).
Most of all, have you paid the local estate agents a visit. I've found many are quite happy to have a chat and offer some (non binding, no liability implied etc) opinions and some generalised off the cuff numbers.
Our place was a 3 bed detached that has had a loft conversion to add a
4th bedroom (the previous previous owners had it done). The property is certainly big enough to make the extra bedroom worth while but we found that the estate agent was hard pushed to describe it as a bedroom and now that we have lived in the place for a couple of years I can understand why.
The loft conversion has generally been done well (the 'lectrics leave a bit to be desired) and the builders haven't wrecked the shape of the bedrooms. They have also left a good amount of space in the loft with enough head room for most adults (it's about 6'6" in the bulk of the room).
There is quite a lot of usable space as it's about 19' long but the space is fiddly and it might be tricky to put a bed and a half way decent sized desk in at the same time. I use it for an office and it's great for that.
The stairs up to the loft are very steep and run up from the landing in what was the airing cupboard. Children certainly won't have a problem with the stairs and I am completely used to them now and run up and down them like a mountain goat.
All in all though I would rather they had built out sideways, perhaps adding a two storey extension as it would have IMHO produced more usable space for about the same cost.
As for block pav> Hi, I`m intending to have some work done on my house, and I`m
Mark wrote | Hi, I`m intending to have some work done on my house, and | I`m wondering what effect the following things would have | on the property value. | Firstly, off-road parking is going to make a difference | of some degree,
If there is good on-street residents' parking, and the house appeals to young families, and the front garden is the play area, turning it into a parking place might actually down-value.
| but what I`d like to know is how do the various options | compare, i.e. block paving, concrete, tarmac or gravel. | Someone has told me that "only block paving ads value",
That would be a block paving salesman would it?
| someone else has said "it dosn`t make a difference as long | as there`s off-road parking".
... in reasonably good order and in keeping with the style of house and locality. Concrete's a bit dismal, and gravel more appropriate for a larger drive; I think paving or tarmac probably the best. Expensive finishes will not add value but may increase saleability.
To turn a front garden into off-road parking will require Planning Permission for a new road access (and consent from the road owner if not the council).
| Secondly, what kind of per cent would turning the loft into a | fourth bedroom increase the value by?
Depends. If the house is currently unbalanced with too much reception space, adding a bedroom will correct that. However if the lounge is already a bit small for a 3-bed it will make the house more unbalanced adding a 4th. Bear in mind you might lose a bedroom on the middle floor to make space for the stairs. If you do add a bedroom you should add at least a shower/WC room on the same level. Also depends on the market for your house -- if it is older people / empty nesters then they won't want lots of bedrooms and two flights of stairs. If it is buy-to-let, fire regulations in 3-storey HMOs are more stringent.
What??? So how come off-road parking costs approx £2k to £3k to do, and add approx £5k to £8k on the value of the house. A £5k kitchen update may add anything from £5k to £10k on the value of a house.
As for drive ways as someone said its all dependent on personal opinions. Mine personally is to go for gravel the reason being... Is that: (When using large gravel (Pebbles)) a) for large drives its beats paving in terms of cost and ease of fitting, b) alerts you to anyone approaching the house, the amount of times ive been woken by a car driving round the drive at 2am only to drive out again.
however its not ideal as someone mentioned because it does tend to distribute everywhere and also is a bugger for weeds. Next time if we dont go for pebbles we will probably go for cobbles with a bit of gravel for the noise.
Not around where I live it wouldn't. A garage might add value, at a greater cost, but on-street parking is plentiful and free.
Once you have deducted your expenses, that translates as zero to £5k increase in value. As a percentage increase in the value of a property today, that is not very impressive. A coat of white paint on all the ceilings and something warm and bright on the walls would be a much better use of money.
A new kitchen would actually put me off buying. One of the first jobs when I get a new house is to rebuild the kitchen to suit my way of cooking, which makes an old and tatty one more attractive to me.
There will always be exceptions to any generalisation, but that does not make them generally untrue.
I put gravel down and am very happy with t, although I had problems to start. My tips are:-
Use gravel>+10mm - smaller stuff is picked up on your shoes when wet, and cats use it as cat litter.
Put down a geotextile membrane to stop weeds coming through.
At least put a little bit of hardcore down the areas the tyres will cover to prevent slumping.
Make sure the gravel is constrained on all sides: if you have a drive that slopes downwards to your gate, and there is no ridge to prevent its escape, it will migrate onto the pavement.
Finally, a little binder might be necessary in certain cases to 'solidify' the gravel. I used rounded large-size pea shingle, but found it was easier to walk on and less liable to reveal the geotextile if I added some clay subsoil to the mix.
Clay/brick pavers can look good, but add a surbuban feel to a house, whereas gravel (particularly attractive stuff ) lends a sort of bucolic charm IMO.
Alternatively simply water with sodium chlorate once every 6 months (when it's dry). Keeps the weeds down a treat and (maybe it's just my eyes playing tricks on me) it seems to keeps the block paving clean.
Speaking to an estate agent friend, the only things that add recoverable value to houses (and also attract more buyers) are central heating and double glazing. Anything else you will not recover your costs in increased value of the house.
And even this will depend. Replacing old wooden SG sashes with plastic DG windows would lose you around 5-10K around my way, even if the old windows were past their prime.
Hi, thanks for replying. It`s a fairly quiet residential area, roads aren`t very wide, maybe a third of houses have had their small front gardens turned into drives of some description.
Me neither actually.
I basically agree with you entirely. I want/ need to get a hard-standing for practical reasons, but I`d really like to know if one kind of hard-standing will ad significantly to the house value, whereas other(s) wouldn`t ad much. If it`s all going to ad the same amount then I might as well just go for tarmac. But is it?
It`s the former, but with two toilets, one downstairs.
If by "off-road parking" you mean block paving then that`s what I though up til recently. Now I`m wondering if there`s much of a increase in what you spend, i.e. £2k spent gets a £2k value increase?
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