More protection for DIY holiday fans

Over the years an increasing number of people have started to book their own DIY holidays rather than opt for a pre-bundled package deal with a travel agent, and with the expansion of the Internet, with all of the choices on offer with regards to flights, hotels, and other extras, more and more people have started to book their holidays in this way. Read more

Tags: diy, Tourism, british travel agents, holiday protection, DIY holiday, expansion

How to increase property value

Homeowners are wasting money by updating the wrong parts of their homes before making a sell.

That is according to research by GE Home Money Lending which says the majority of us wrongly believe that upgrading out kitchen will increase the value of our house.

The kitchen is followed by the bathroom and general redecoration in terms of what homeowners see as adding value to a property.

However, estate agents could not disagree more, with an upgraded kitchen being ranked as the fourth most recommended course of action.

A new bathroom was only ranked seventh, while general redecoration was put in the top eight.

Carrying out jobs such as a loft conversion, a new extension and building a conservatory were the most highly recommended by estate agents, who said that these jobs would add a lot of value to a property.

“At a time of year when many are planning to improve the value and desirability of their homes, it is important that consumers appreciate and establish DIY and renovation tasks which will add the most equity to their particular home,” commented Giacomo Gigantiello from GE Money Home Lending.

“In many cases homeowners automatically opt for a new kitchen or bathroom. Whilst these are valuable additions to any home, the findings from this research show that it is also important to consider improvements that will ultimately increase a property’s living area.”

Tags: action.A new bathroom, Business Finance, diy, renovation tasks, estate agents, property value, action

DIY – Does Your Home Insurance Cover Your Work?

Before spending your entire holiday time off doing renovations to your home by yourself, first check with your insurance company about coverage concerning accidental damage. If the insurance company does, the next step is to make sure it is enough coverage in case an emergency occurs in the middle of your home renovation project. Read more

Tags: home insurance, renovations, DIY improvements, renovation, proper coverage, Insurance, huge jump, diy

Homeowners cautioned over the true cost of unsecured personal loans for home improvements

The latest figures released by the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) show that 198,242 mortgages, totaling £21.8 billion were approved in the UK in October, a six percent increase on September’s figures and an eight percent increase on the figures year-on-year.  At £144,200, the average UK residential property mortgage also saw a slight increase during the month.

Nonetheless, while, “the secured lending market undoubtedly remains robust,” according to David Dooks, director of statistics at the BBA, “after discount price growth, lending volumes are not dissimilar to the same time last year” – indicating that the recent base rates increases by the Bank of England mat be having some effect on the demand for UK property borrowing.  A factor echoed by Milan Khatri, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, who foresees a slowdown in the UK property borrowing during the course of the next year once the full impact of those Bank of England rate increases filters through and the true higher cost of borrowing starts to be felt.

In the meantime,  a recent report by Money Expert is warning that an increasing number of UK homeowners are now opting to take-out unsecured personal loans to finance their home improvement projects over more cost effective ways of this type of borrowing. 

While this may, itself, not be too alarming, Money Expert’s findings also indicate that UK homeowners are not fully aware of how much their unsecured personal loan borrowing is costing them in extra interest payments.  In some cases, interest repayments on a four year £10,000 unsecured personal loan taken-out for home improvement projects can vary by as much as £2,500 – or 25%.

Sean Garden, chief executive of Money Expert, therefore warns, “Personal loans can vary in price dramatically – you could end up paying back as much as a quarter of the amount you borrowed in extra repayments unless you research the market carefully.”

As such, if you are one of the many new homeowners who have recently been approved a UK home mortgage loan and are now looking to undertaken some DIY home improvements on your new home, make sure you look around and research the many different types of UK unsecured personal loans available in the market to make sure that you get an unsecured loan that meets your needs without breaking the bank in extra interest payments.

Tags: credit, bank, Mortgages, improve, unsecured, home, interest, cost