Top 5 features that will sell your home for more

The housing market has become increasingly more competitive in the last few decades and finding ways to get your home to appeal to a new generation of first-time buyers might seem like a daunting task! But we’re here to fill you in on some of the ways you might be devaluing your home, and some of the features that are actually likely to increase the offers you receive!

We surveyed the nation to find out which home features buyers were most drawn towards, and what features were most likely to turn them off a house – it might surprise you to know that these differ between generations, and even between different cities too. Finding ways to boost your home value has never been more popular, so let’s get you started on the road to a successful sale.

Real Customer Home
@elm_dene

Top assets Brits would increase their offer for:

A nice garden – 54%
A nice kitchen – 50%
Good parking/garage space – 44%
A nice bathroom – 36%
Lots of windows/natural light – 29%

It seems like a pretty foregone conclusion that we all enjoy natural, light-filled spaces, so having a nice garden was definitely going to make it to the top of the list. But it’s also worth noting that even if your home doesn’t have a garden, finding ways to increase the amount of natural light will still sell your property.

Real Customer Home
@tedds.adventure

Assets Brits are least likely to increase their offer for:

A nice front door – 9%
High ceilings – 11%
Fireplaces – 12%
Open-plan floor space – 13%
Paint/wallpaper that doesn’t need redoing – 14%

Amongst the least voted-for options, we have quite a few features that may be unsurprising – having paint or wallpaper that doesn’t need redoing isn’t going to be top of the priority list for a new homeowner who wants to make the house their own!

And similarly, a nice front door, while appealing at first sight, can easily be changed or painted, so it’s not a top priority for buyers. Interestingly, open-plan floor space came quite low in our overall list of desired features, but some age groups actually rank this feature quite highly on their list.

What features do different age groups prefer?

Of all our survey respondents, we found that 18-24-year-olds were looking for homes with the least aesthetic changes to be made – they were most likely to raise their offer for a home with a nice bathroom, an open-plan living space, and even a nice front door. This tendency towards cosmetic appeal could be down to the variety of home-owning social media content that this age group is consuming, which may not always show the practicalities of home-owning.

Meanwhile, older homeowners aged 65+ were looking for more practical home features – 21% of those aged 65+ would pay more for a conservatory, and 41% would pay more for double or triple-glazed windows in a property. This shows a tendency towards staying warm in winter and keeping bills down, which seems to be really important for older generations. Meanwhile, those most likely to have young children, the 35-44-year-old cohort, were the most inclined to increase their offer for a nice garden (62%).

Real Customer Home
@poetryofdecor

What features are preferred in different UK cities?

We also found that those from different areas of the UK had different priorities when it came to buying homes – the features that they opted for were generally a reflection of the type of homes available and the area they’re buying in.

For example, Londoners are the most likely to pay more for an open-plan living space (17%), which makes a lot of sense given that most homes in London are smaller, so making the most of the inside space to help it feel bigger would boost home prices.

Meanwhile, people from Sheffield (53%) are most likely to pay more for a house with double/triple glazed windows, which is little surprise again considering the cool and wet weather that drives in from the Pennines. It’s also unsurprising that people from Glasgow (41%) are most likely to pay more for a home with good parking space, considering the lack of off-street parking available in the city and the abundance of tenement-style flats that are available.

Is it worth replacing my flooring?

From our survey, we found that 21% of all respondents would actually pay more for a home that doesn’t need any work done to the flooring. So, if there’s a 1 in 5 chance that your home could sell for more with new flooring, why not come down to your local Tapi store and speak to one of our amazing floorologists about the changes you could make today?

Whether you want to completely replace your flooring or just explore some new options, we’ve got a great range of carpets, laminate, vinyl, and engineered wood that will appeal to any prospective home buyer at a budget to suit all. Or alternatively, if you're wondering to move house or stay put and redecorate, have a read of our guide to see which is the right choice for you.

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