Is it time to reclaim the spare bedroom?

A recent report from Zoopla suggests that some nine million bedrooms were lost during the pandemic to other uses but is it time to reclaim the spare bedroom?

Over 4.5 million home offices were created, 1.3 million home gyms, almost 1 million home bars, 900,000 cinema/music rooms and nearly 700,000 dedicated classrooms. But as life returns to normal and many of us return to work, school and our local gym, is your repurposed room devaluing your home?

Benefits of a spare bedroom

Increased value

While adding any kind of extra space can add value to your home, converting a bedroom into something else will likely make no difference to its sales price. This is especially true once you factor in the conversion cost, which is an average of £3,714 according to Zoopla’s research.

The value of your spare bedroom will largely depend on where you live and the type of property you own but the extra place to sleep is said to be worth around £42,000 on average across the UK. Conversely, hobby rooms, such as home gyms, could actually put buyers off. Even if the room is easily switched back to a bedroom once sold, any vendor should consider dressing the space as the bedroom it is before putting it on the market.

Increased income

As we come out of one crisis, we enter another and the soaring cost of living is likely to see more homeowners need to rent out one of their spare rooms to earn some extra cash. Not only has rising rents forced many people back into house or flat sharing but with 95% of homeowners worried about the effects of inflation and other external factors on their income, taking in a lodger could be a welcome boost.

The government’s Rent a Room scheme allows people to earn up to £7,500 a year tax-free from renting out a spare room. That’s comparable to getting £10,500 gross pay rise for a basic rate tax payer, or £14,000 for a higher rate tax payer.

Increased space

On a more positive note, the travel restrictions we’ve experienced over the last couple of years has seen a staycation surge. Unsurprisingly, the cost of holiday accommodation in the UK has risen in line with demand – up to 90% more in some areas. As a result, people are looking for lower cost accommodation options.

With more than a third of Britons planning to ditch the holiday this year, your spare bedroom (and theirs) could become a staycation saviour, in the style of cost-free holidays swaps.

Thankfully, living in West Sussex, where Chichester and Bognor Regis are frequently rated in the top 10 UK holiday destinations, you and your guests will never be short of anything to do.

Be flexible

For any homeowner who has converted their spare room into something more fancy, do not despair. There are plenty of ways you can ensure your investment does not completely go to waste. Think about easy ways to make the room multi-purpose - probably like it was at the beginning of lockdown.

You may want to remove any permanent fixtures, use screens to divide off areas or switch to furniture that can be pulled down or packed up. We do advise, however, that there is a bed in any room you want to include in the ‘number of bedrooms’ when selling a property.

Bedrooms = value

It's worth remembering that a large part of a property’s value usually hinges on how many bedrooms it has. If you are selling a home that originally was built with three bedrooms but you’ve turned the third into a permanent home gym, for instance, talk to White & Brooks about how that may affect your home’s marketing potential and sales value. Get in touch with our friendly agents today for advice and a free valuation.