Home improvements could protect house prices

Carrying out home improvements on your property will help you protect the value of your house against a possible slowdown in the housing market, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Some 56 per cent of respondents to a government survey said they had used the money gained from remortgaging to carry out home improvements.

Now, property owners are being encouraged to improve the interior decor of their home, or carry out extensions to protect the value of their home should there be a crash. Some homeowners may consider taking out a secured loan to finance their home improvements.

Bernard Clarke, a spokesperson for the CML, said that he didn't expect house prices to decline significantly in value, although he did think that they would level out. Presumably additional enhancements to a property would add further value anyway, so it would seem like it would be fairly well protected by the value of the property, he said.

Responding to reservations about extending or renovating homes actually decreasing property values, Mr Clarke said that it could be detrimental if they do something wrong.