As The Market In Essex Booms, Renovating Your Property Promises Healthy Returns

The residents of Essex aren’t anywhere near as “stupid” as the rest of the country think they are, despite the best efforts of TOWIE to hammer that home. With some of the most expensive and sought after areas to buy and live in, I think our savvy residents are a force to be reckoned with, especially when it comes to home renovation in Essex.

Places local to my business are Chigwell, Loughton, Buckhurst Hill and Abridge, but Epping, Ongar and the surrounding villages are in demand mainly because of the rural feel, but also access to London via the central line and the A12.

If you were to take a drive around here, you’d see loft conversions, side extensions, complete rebuilds in abundance, with the focus on creating that dream environment for your home surroundings. The prediction for the total spend on property renovations and refurbishments in the UK was £24.3 billion in 2015.

Why Brits Are Spending More On 

Just look at the figures released by home.co.uk for the time on market report for Essex between August 2015 and August 2016

Time On Market Report For Essex – August 2015 To August 2016

This report displays the average time on market for unsold property for sale in Essex for each month from August 2015 to August 2016. The trends are broken down by property type and number of bedrooms.

You can view the Time On Market Report for Essex over another date range or view the report for another location using the options at the bottom of the page.

Average Time On Market By Type In Essex (Days)

3-month moving averages by property type in Essex

Average Time On Market By Number Of Bedrooms In Essex (Days)

3-month moving averages by number of bedrooms in Essex

As you can see, the demand for property is so high, time on the market has reduced by a minimum 10% across the board.

Whilst this is great for Estate Agents in the more affluent parts of Essex, it also pushes residents to improve their own homes as the market is just too competitive. The upside for all involved is that going forward, you will get far more house for your money.

The Americans Are Doing It Too

Whilst the UK housing market is still flourishing, despite what you may have heard recently, our American cousins are following suit. A report by the NAHB showed that even as far back as 2013, they spent an astonishing $150 Billion on home improvements and repairs, with flooring, windows and roofing taking the biggest spend.

Why Finance Plays A Part

Despite the gloomy outlook and forecasts from the government and bank of England, a slowdown in the market actually points to the slowdown in the rate of increase to property value, not sales. The Nationwide house price index reported continued growth by 0.5% in July up from June in the first report post Brexit.

The report stated “Outer Metropolitan leads house price growth in Q2 2016 The Outer Metropolitan region continued to top the house price growth table, with average prices up 12.4% year-on year. It was also the only region to record double digit growth this quarter. Average house prices in London reached a record high of £472,384, although the annual rate of growth moderated slightly to 9.9% (from 11.5% in Q1).”

With property value still increasing, more and more solvent homeowners can leverage the value in their property to borrow against the mortgage or alternative finance lenders to capitalise on the space afforded to property owners in the major Essex suburbs.

Get The Right Advice

Despite the long term outlook for the housing market still looking pretty positive in London and the surrounding areas and the ease of access to credit and loans to aid with the cost of renovating your property, it is always recommended that you analyse the cost to you properly.

These are the things we recommend when you consider a finance route:

• What would happen if I secured a loan through my mortgage and the rates suddenly adjusted by a further 2-3%
• What would happen if I financed my renovation and either myself or my partner lost their job or become long term sick and the income changed
• What would happen if we financed the renovation and we split from the relationship
• How much could I afford in monthly repayments, still leaving me a healthy monthly sum to have a social life with
• How much value to the property will this work add
• Check and recheck your builders history and also look for multiple historical directorships in case they have a number of failed businesses behind them
• Always talk to your local estate agent about your plans as they could tell you what you could expect as a return for your investment

So in closing, the home renovation in Essex is a popular choice amongst homeowners and the numbers seem to back that up. But when you consider your own property renovation, make sure you really educate yourself before doing something whimsical that could ultimately back fire.