Anyone looking to create more space to live in might consider upsizing their home, but the latest house price data might act as a significant deterrent.
Various recent surveys have shown double digit price increases and the latest, by the Office for National Statistics, has done likewise. It indicated that the average UK house price in February was 10.9 per cent more expensive than a year before, with this comparing with 10.2 per cent in the year to January.
This makes the national average figure £277,000, up £27,000 on a year ago, but in areas like Sussex and Surrey it will be much more, as the south east is a costlier area to live in. For example, the data by local authority in England showed that prices in Arun were up 15 per cent to £348,000, Brighton and Hove’s average is £422,000 and the typical price for Surrey is nearly £503,000.
Faced with these high and rising prices, one alternative option is to expand existing space. While an extension may be one option, another is to have a luxury garden house. This can create a fine extra space for entertaining, enjoying the summer sunshine and freeing up space in the house that can be used in another way.
Nor would such a development just be a good alternative to upsizing. It can also add value to your home, which may be particularly useful if a market correction kicks in and the recent surge in house prices ends.
Such a correction has been widely predicted. For instance, last month’s Nationwide House Price Index for February that also showed a continued upturn in house price inflation, but it came with a comment from the building society’s chief economist Robert Gardener that it wouldn’t last.
He said: “It is likely that the housing market will slow in the quarters ahead”, due to the squeeze on incomes caused by the recent rise in Consumer Price Index inflation.
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