People 'may use home owner loans to improve house'
Published On 24 March 2007
People in Britain may have to increasingly consider taking out homeowner loans to fund their grand designs for home improvements, according to new survey.Halifax has revealed that 11 million homeowners in the UK plan to improve their homes in the near future, at an estimated cost of £153 billion.
This means that the average project will cost £13,800 and people could decide to use homeowner loans to finance the work.
Garden improvements are the most popular thing for people to spend a loan on - with 26 per cent saying this is the area of their property they plan to work on. Bedroom and bathroom amelioration also proved to be popular, with 15 and 14 per cent respectively mentioning these areas.
"Whilst well planned and executed home improvements can add significant value to a home, getting it wrong can be a disaster," warned Halifax Home Insurance's senior manager of underwriting, Vicky Emmott.
"We'd advise anyone planning any major improvements to their home to employ qualified and reputable tradesmen, rather than going it alone."
Recent figures published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that 70 per cent of the UK's 26 million households own their property and so could obtain a homeowner loan.
