The Halifax Home Improvements Survey reveals that only one in ten homeowners in England and Wales, who have undertaken home improvements, have done so with the pure intention of adding value to their property. The survey polled homeowners asking why improvements had been carried out. Some 31% said it was to improve their standard of living and 35% indicated that they were carried out to improve the look or design of their home.
The top five home improvements were new flooring, with 51% of those questioned having carried this out; garden improvements (47%); double glazing (33%); fitted kitchens (32%) and new bathrooms (32%).
In 1992, the Halifax Home Improvements Survey found that double glazing was the most popular home improvement. This now ranks at third place in this year's survey. A fitted kitchen came in at second place in 1992, it is now the fourth most popular home improvement. Interestingly, garden improvements was at third place in 1992 rising to second place by 2003. This makes it the only home improvement to rise in the last ten years - perhaps evidence of the effect of gardening programmes such as Groundforce, Homefront in the Garden and City Gardener in mainstream TV scheduling.
