19 April 2023 , 11:14
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Homeowners have been warned to think twice about having a conservatory as they could bring the property price down by £15,000, warn estate agents.
And many people are now having their conservatories converted over fears that they will get less for their home, it is reported.
While 20 years ago conservatories were seen as an ideal way to add space and light to a house at a cheaper cost, the outlook is now very different.
Estate agents now claim that conservatories look old fashioned while also crucially during the cost of living crisis, they are also seen as being energy inefficient.
It comes as house prices have now fallen on a monthly basis for seven months in a row, according to Nationwide.
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Conservatories are not seen as energy efficient (Getty Images)Housebuyers now are no longer looking for conservatories with the numbers having dropped dramatically.
And website Rightmove has shown that there are were 52% fewer houses coming onto the market with conservatories in 2022 compared to ten years previously.
While there were 77,000 conservatories built in 2017 compared to around a million constructed in 2006.
Christ Hodgkinson, of House Buyer Bureau reportedly said that properties can be devalued by as much as £15,000 through having a conservatory and that by being hot in summer and cold in winter is a big drawback.
"An outdated conservatory can be an eyesore which will cause an immediate bad first impression, particularly with younger buyers," he told thisismoney.co.uk.
"If it's not in keeping with the overall style of your home, it acts as a buying deterrent. They may see it is an expensive problem that needs fixing - demolishing a conservatory alone comes in at £2,000. A buyer will ultimately factor this in when putting in an offer on your home, reducing the price you are likely to achieve.”
It appears as though energy effectiveness is now a key element in what housebuyers are looking for.
James Powell, of Hunters estate agents in York reportedly said: "We're seeing people turn their conservatory into another room or taking the traditional glass or plastic roof off and replacing it with a proper roof. They are just quite unusable otherwise."
Meanwhile Nationwide has stated that house prices fell by 3.1% year-on-year in March - the largest annual decline since July, 2009.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist said: “March saw a further decline in annual house price growth, with prices down 3.1% compared with the same month last year. March also saw a further monthly price fall (-0.8%) – the seventh in a row – which leaves prices 4.6% below their August peak (after taking account of seasonal effects).
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“The housing market reached a turning point last year as a result of the financial market turbulence which followed the mini-budget. Since then, activity has remained subdued – the number of mortgages approved for house purchase remained weak at 43,500 cases in February, almost 40% below the level prevailing a year ago."