Whether you are a first-time buyer purchasing a London flat, or have owned your house for a decade and are looking to sell in the near future, making changes to your property now could add value in the future. Here are five ways London home-owners are choosing to add value to their properties in 2025.
Add an extension
One of the most popular ways to add value to any property is by adding some extra square-footage with an extension. However, the type of extension can determine how much additional value the project could add to your home. The cost and possible value additions of extensions vary both due to size and where your live, with London properties both the most expensive to extend but also adding the greatest value.
According to recent surveys, annexes can add the most value (up to 25%), followed by attic conversions and garage conversions into single bedroom ensuites (up to 20%), double storey extensions (up to 12%), single storey extensions (up to 8%) and conservatories (up top 5%).
If you are looking for the greatest return on investment for an extension, then an attic conversion will likely be the best option if your current attic is large enough and with sufficient height to convert it into an additional room or two. Conversions generally will not require structural changes to the property or planning permission and are therefore quicker and cheaper to add than a single or double storey conversion.
Update your kitchen
An outdated and tired kitchen can be a significant drag on the price of a property, and by updating it experts agree you can add up to ten percent to the value of your property. The kitchen is the hub of the modern home and where Brits are spending more and more of their time both cooking, sharing meals, and entertaining friends and family, and so it is no surprise that it’s the room that makes one of the greatest impacts on house prices.
The cost of updating your kitchen will vary significantly by the size of your kitchen, the brands you choose, and the quality of the fixtures and fittings. However, if your kitchen is looking tired and out-dated, even a relatively low-cost update could add value to your home if you are looking to sell. A small, low-cost kitchen update can cost as little as £5k, with the cost of larger bespoke kitchens often costing £10-£20k.
If you are looking to add a side-return extension to expand your kitchen with extra space as well as updating all the cabinetry, fittings, and fixtures, then you could be looking at costs more in the £50k range and above, but with these updates you would not just be improving the kitchen but also adding floor space.
Add a bathroom
Potential buyers could be put off by properties with what they perceive as too few toilets. If you have a family-sized three or four bedroomed property with just a single bathroom, then you may find that by squeezing in an additional bathroom you could significantly improve the appeal of your home.
To add a downstairs toilet could cost as little as £2,500 for materials and labour and could add up to 5% to the value of your home if you can squeeze it in without making any of the other rooms downstairs feel too small. Meanwhile, a wet room will cost around £10k and an en-suite can cost up to £15k.
If you already have two or three bathrooms in your London property, then it may be better to update the bathrooms you already have. The constant use and wet conditions can make bathrooms starts to look tired after only a few years, and a renovation can breathe new life into the space with a relatively minimal outlay.
Install solar panels
Once installed, solar panels will save you money on your energy bills every day, even when it’s cloudy. On sunny days you may be able to generate a profit by selling your excess energy back to the grid. The upfront cost of north of £12k for a 4kWh battery, 4kW inverter and 4kW solar PV system means that adding solar panels is perhaps an upgrade worth doing a few years before you plan to sell your home to recoup some of the initial cost, however if you have solar panels installed, this can add up to 10% to the value of your home.
Double glaze your windows
Doubling glazing your windows may not generate you returns like solar panels, but they can save you major sums on heating your home over the winter months. As such, replacing any singled glazed windows with double glazed options can pay for itself after a few years in the money you save, depending on the type of windows you choose. And having double-glazed windows installed can add as much as 10% to the value of your home because buyers understand the savings they will be making on heating in the future.
Double-glazed windows can cost from as little as £300 for a small uPVC window to more than £5k per window for bespoke wooden frames, so your return on investment may vary significantly depending on your choices.
What to know when planning value-adding home improvements
- Every property is different – an improvement that adds £50k to one house may only add £5k to another.
- Ask for advice – if you are unsure about the value, an update might make it is always useful to talk to estate agents in your area and find out whether buyers are looking for these additions in your area.
- Be realistic – we would all love a guaranteed return on any investment we make in our homes, but the reality is that some projects will add value whilst others should only be thought of as a way to improve your own living situation.
- Get necessary permissions – find out whether the home improvement you are looking to make needs any planning or regulatory approvals and make sure to attain them when required.
- Hire trusted professionals – from sketching out the plans to finding the right materials to instructing a contractor for the work, make sure to choose a team you trust to complete the task on time, within budget, and to your standards.
