Your Bathroom Can Add Value to Your Home

No longer seen as a small room of the house but a major feature of a home, the bathroom can add enormous value to your property and is well worth the investment.

Americans have long been obsessed with en-suite; now bathroom mania has arrived in Britain. If property developers and estate agents are to be believed, we are spending endless hours cavorting in double power-showers and sipping wine in one of our en-suites.

The bathroom has risen in status from a place to simply rinse away the grime of the day into a desirable retreat to relax and unwind in and it offers the same design opportunities and potential to make a statement as any other room in the house. With the huge range of styles now available on the market, from suppliers like Bathstore, you can really make your mark on a bathroom and at the same time add value to your property.

"It's definately true that a good bathroom will make your house more attractive to a potential buyer," says Tim Gaston, Residential Director, Humberts estate agents in Worcester. "It's to do with first impressions really and a stunning bathroom will help drive a buyer's desire to buy your home."

So the right bathroom will not only enhance the value of the property but it will also add to the general saleability of the house. "It's difficult to quantify exactly what a new bathroom will add to the value of a property but in general if you spend a couple of thousand it can add up to £5000 to the asking price. But it's not just the value but the saleability that really makes a new bathroom worth the investment."

At Bathstore there's plenty of choice of affordable bathroom suites that won't break the bank, but look stylish enough to help sell your property and make you some money into the bargain! The Wash double ended bath, costs just £199 and would match up well with the round and contemporary Tao semi pedestal basin, £249 and Tao back to wall WC pan, £239, leaving you sufficient funds to pay for the plumbing and building costs. Just remember that presentation is everything and finish off the look with some fluffy towels to really show off your new bathroom to its best advantage.

If you have enough space, another way to add real value to your home is to put in an additional bathroom. Two bathrooms, it would seem are now the norm and a second bathroom can add up to 10% to the value.

While there will always be new trends with bathrooms, remember the avocado suite, this obsession with the en-suite and second bathroom is relatively new. According to recent figures, seven years ago 93% of properties had just one bathroom, but by the end of 2002 almost one in five properties had two or more. The figure rises to almost three in every four new homes being built and 10% of new properties are being built with three or more bathrooms. So even if, for little cost, you simply add a downstairs cloakroom using, for instance, the Anna basin, pedestal and WC for £199 you could be adding value to your property. Just remember, that once you've built all these new bathrooms and en-suites some poor soul is going to have to clean them all!