Northampton Buy To let – Bedrooms?

Last week, a landlord from Northampton emailed me to ask, after reading the Northampton Property Blog, if he should extend his terraced house making an extra bedroom in the loft. He had a builder friend who owed him a favour, and thought a good way would be get an ‘inexpensive’ extension.

Having more useable space is generally thought to be consistent with better quality accommodation and homeowners and tenants are prepared to pay for it. If you added a bedroom to a two bed terraced to make it a three bed terraced, it will add 10% to the value of the property.  Turn a three bed terraced into a four bed terraced and 9% will be added to the value. Looking at semi-detached properties; turn a two bed into a three bed and 12% will be added to the value, whilst making a three bed semi into four bed will add 9% in value.

However, before you rush off to the planning department there are some important considerations, whether you are a homeowner or landlord.  What would be the cost of making that extra bedroom? The average value of a terraced house in Northampton is currently £154,700 whilst the average value of a semi detached house is £181,000, meaning to make money the cost of the extension would need to be less than £14,696 on the terraced property and £19,005 on the semi-detached house. Talking to a number of trades people in the town, most are booking up into the New Year. Also, no matter how good a friend he was, I know of no builders that would charge as little as that… maybe the builder was just thinking of a bit of pointing work on the chimney!

Well, that got me thinking about how bedrooms affected rental prices and rent-ability as well.   Interestingly below, you will see that whilst bedrooms do have an effect on the rent that can be achieved and the rent-ability of the property – the difference does not warrant the expense, hassle and trouble of extending.

•          38% of the one bed properties on the market to rent in Northampton have a tenant with an average rent of £608 per month
•          60% of the two bed properties on the market to rent in Northampton have a tenant with an average rent of £670 per month
•          49% of the three bed properties on the market to rent in Northampton have a tenant with an average rent of £859 per month
•          25.7% of the four bed properties on the market to rent in Northampton have a tenant with an average rent of £1,251 per month

No, if you want to increase the value of your property, be you a Northampton landlord or homeowner, there are things that cost a lot less than building extra bedrooms. Spruce up the exterior, emulsion all the rooms, install fresh carpets and curtains. For homeowners, a matter of a few hundred pounds will add thousands whilst for landlords, these things can add an extra 10% to the rent that you can achieve.