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Declare war on en suites, homeowners urged

• New en suite bathroom adds £3850 to value of South Shields home, less than the likely cost of building it. • Property expert: “What to you might seem like the height of sophistication and luxury might seem like relieving yourself in a cupboard centimetres away from your partner’s head to a potential buyer“ • Adding extra bedroom to Sunderland property increases income to landlords of £852 a year and increases value of Newcastle home by £39,000.

En suite toilets and bathrooms are the worst possible way of increasing the value of North East home – and could even could cost homeowners money.

With the cost of the building and installation of an average en suite bathroom estimated at £4000, the building work would need to raise the value of an average North East home (£144,872) by at least 3% for home owners to break even on their investment.

Although this is possible, one North East property expert believes the possible impact on the homes appeal to buyers or renters makes the impact insignificant.

Ajay Jagota of North East-based sales and lettings business KIS believes that “space is key” to selling or renting out a house, concluding “en suites can’t help put cost it”.

Adding additional bedrooms with a loft conversion or extension could raise the value of a property in the region by as much as 50% - adding £72,000 to the value of a typical North East home.

A semi-detached property in Sunderland with three bedrooms instead of two will increase income for landlords by £852 a year – and raise the price of a Newcastle home by £39,000.

Ajay Jagota is founder and Chief Executive Officer of the UK’s most innovative sales and lettings business, KIS:

The firm is famous for being the first letting agent in the country to abolish deposits, replacing them with a one-of-a-kind landlord insurance policy offering guaranteed rent, deposit replacement, legal assistance and round the clock third party emergency home repairs.

He said: “The key to selling or renting a property is space. En suites can’t help but cost you that.

“I’d estimate that a decent en suite will add 3% to the value of your home. To put that into context, you’re probably looking at a 2% increase for a tidy garden, and a simple lick of paint could be the difference between a sale or no sale.

“What you’ve really got to consider then is the impact on the saleability of your house of home improvements like en suites. What to you might seem like the height of sophistication and luxury might seem like relieving yourself in a cupboard centimetres away from your partner’s head to a potential buyer.

“Even in the rental sector all the evidence suggests that people are prepared to pay for extra useable space, so my advice would be to think long and hard before reducing the space of any of your rooms.

“This is symptomatic of a larger cultural change we’ve been seeing in the rental sector over recent years – people are increasingly planning to stay in rented properties indefinitely, even choosing them for family homes. As such things like gardens, garages and in particular the space for family to expand are increasingly critical.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ajay Jagota .