Kitchens - Bathrooms and kitchens add value to homes

03/10/2007

Installing a new kitchen and bathroom is one of the best ways to increase the value of a property, it has been claimed.

According to Robin Hood-Leeder of the Federation of Master Builders, buyers are often keenly aware that these two rooms represent two of the larger investments a homeowner makes and are only too keen not to have to pay for new fittings themselves.

He said: "They are the things people first look at. Sometimes in estate agents' windows they will not show you pictures of the house, but they'll show you pictures of the kitchen and then the bathroom.

"I suppose it's because people recognise that these are where the big expenditures are. Unless you're extending your home, the big money goes in to the bathroom and the kitchen. Beyond that, there's extensions and conservatories; extra habitable space. More people are thinking now of improving rather than moving."

Mr Hood's comments were echoed by a report published by Nationwide, which showed that although location is the key factor in determining a property's value, a new bathroom can add more than five per cent onto the value of a home.