If you still think that gardens are the most desirable house feature to home buyers, think again. Recent research shows that, having spent so long in our homes over the past year and a half, we have come to value something much more practical – good storage.
It's no secret that successful storage solutions for small spaces (and even for larger spaces) can make an enormous difference to how we use our homes. We all have a lot of stuff these days, and it really matters that we have somewhere convenient and well-designed to put it.
UK homebuyers will pay more for storage
To find out just how valuable storage has become to us, fitted furniture specialists Hammonds Furniture surveyed 2,000 Brits on how much more they’d be willing to pay for a home with ample storage space – and what type of storage they considered the most important.
The results are impressive. The average person looking for a new home will happily pay over £12,500 for spacious storage, and the vast majority (84 per cent) classed home storage to be 'essential', or 'very important when looking for a house. In fact, for 28 per cent of house hunters, storage is more important than a home office. This makes sense – no matter how nice your home office is, if you haven't got anywhere to put your stuff, the experience of working from home is unlikely to be productive or enjoyable.
Shockingly, for one in six (15 per cent) good storage trumps even a garden. Many would rather have a clutter-free home than one with outdoor space. Storage was routinely prioritised by respondents over en suites and even refurbishments.
In terms of the storage types that are deemed the most desirable, a garage is the most sought-after storage option, with 42 per cent of respondents prepared to pay more for one. Spare bedrooms and utility rooms were also cited as very desirable, with 42 and 40 per cent respectively prepared to put in a higher offer for properties that offer this extra storage space.
Kirsty Oakes, Head of Product and Marketing at Hammonds Furniture, gave a top tip to home owners who don't currently have extra storage space to offer to buyers: 'you may consider altering lesser-used spaces, such as rooms with sloped roofs or adding under stairs storage. There are lots of different storage solutions out there, such as wardrobes for awkward spaces, and installing these can be a great way to offer more room for your things, and add value to your home without losing valuable ''living'' floor space.'
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