Renovations That Can Add Value to Your Home

Thistle-Credit-Union-Home-Improvement-Loan-Why-Choose-a-Home-Improvement-Loan-West-of-Scotland-Affor

Table of Contents

Whether you’re aiming to make a return on your investment or just want to enjoy your home; making renovations to your home can help to increase the value of your home by enhancing its appeal and functionality.

Here are just a few ways you can increase the value of your home.

Restore Period Features

Ever heard the phrase “They don’t make them like they used to”? Well restoring those original period features in your older home can add up to 30% to the value of your property. Costs vary depending on what features you’re restoring but ensuring your restoration is sympathetic to the original era, your property stands out to potential buyers. Features to consider include fireplaces, cornices, ceiling roses, original floorboards, stone flooring, staircases, doors and wooden beams. 

Add an Extension

A new extension could add up to 20% to the value of your home. However, not all extensions bring the same return on investment. Location and market demand all contribute to the final valuation. Make sure to conduct extensive market research and enquire with neighbours about their extensions before making any decisions.

Install Solar Panels

The ongoing climate and cost of living crisis has led more households to turn to more sustainable options to produce energy without breaking the bank. Not only can solar panels add up to 14% to the value of your home, they can also help to reduce your energy bills and your carbon footprint. The average cost to install solar panels is between £6,000 – £10,000 however, the money saved on energy bills and selling energy back to the National Grid can make this a very worthwhile investment.

Update Your Kitchen

With the average UK person spending around 7 hours a week in the kitchen it’s no surprise it’s often referred to as the heart of the home. Experts assert that the kitchen is often one of the key things buyers look for in a property and agree that upgrading your kitchen can add up to 10% to the value of your home. Costs can range from under £7,000 for a small kitchen to over £10,000 for a luxury bespoke kitchen. 

Borrowing Built for You

At Thistle Credit Union, our home improvement loans are designed to help you plan ahead, spread the cost sensibly and avoid high-interest credit cards.

Borrowing up to £15,000 and spread repayments over 5 years.

Fixed repayments, no hidden charges and no early repayment penalties. 

Applying is straightforward and decisions are made locally by real real people, not algorithms.

Representative Example: 

  • Borrow £7,500 
  • Repay over 5 years 
  • Interest rate of 11.9% APR 
  • Monthly repayments of £170

Apply online today or get in touch with a branch to discuss your options.

Update Your Bathroom

Bathrooms are one of the most used spaces in the home and buyers will often prioritise a useable and luxurious bathroom over other spaces in the home. Installing or updating your bathroom can increase the value of your home by around 5%. The average cost of a bathroom renovation is around £6,500. Depending on the ceiling value of your home, this could be a worthwhile investment. 

Landscape Your Garden

Despite the Scottish weather being unpredictable, many still see having a nice garden as essential for those two weeks of nice weather in July. Gardening and property experts both claim landscaping your garden can add an extra 10% to the value of your home. Installing a deck or patio is a great way to get more use of your space. Prices for decking start around £2,300 depending on materials.

Install Double Glazing

Double of triple glazed windows are fast becoming a non-negotiable for homeowners and buyers due to their energy efficiency benefits, so replacing dated single glazed windows could not only increase the value of your home by up to 10% but can also help to keep heat in and reduce your energy bills. The cost of double glazing varies depending on size but prices can cost anywhere between £500 to £5,000 per window.

Click here for more information about Thistle Credit Union or read more from Thistle below. 

Improve Curb Appeal

When selling your home, first impressions are vital. Curb appeal has a significant impact on valuation and saleability. Maintaining the exterior appearance of your property such as repairing fences, window seals, replacing exterior doors and maintaining gutters and dreams can all increase the value of your home by around 10%.

Add Off Street Parking

Given most older home were built before the majority of households owned cars, adding a driveway is a great way to increase the value of your home by up to 10% depending on your location and the availability of nearby parking. Checkatrade recommends budgeting around £60 per square meter for a new driveway depending on materials.

What to Consider

Before taking a sledgehamer to your home, it’s important to weigh up the cost of renovations and the potential return on investment to help ensure that you’re adding more money to the value of your home than you are spending.

Here are some quick things to remember:

  • Do you research
  • Consider your return on investment 
  • Get the necessary permissions
  • Hire trusted professionals 
  • Ensure your finances are in place

Borrowing Built for You

At Thistle Credit Union, our home improvement loans are designed to help you plan ahead, spread the cost sensibly and avoid high-interest credit cards.

Borrowing up to £15,000 and spread repayments over 5 years.

Fixed repayments, no hidden charges and no early repayment penalties. 

Applying is straightforward and decisions are made locally by real real people, not algorithms.

Representative Example: 

  • Borrow £7,500 
  • Repay over 5 years 
  • Interest rate of 11.9% APR 
  • Monthly repayments of £170

Apply online today or get in touch with a branch to discuss your options.

Why Choose Thistle Credit Union?

Thistle Credit Union was founded under the name Blantyre Credit Union in November 1991 and has been proudly providing affordable loans and ethical savings ever since. We’ve grown rapidly over the last 30 years and are now trusted by over 14,000 members across the West of Scotland.

Thistle Credit Union offers a genuine alternative to traditional banks through our ethical savings accounts, affordable low interest loans and not for profit approach. Contact our friendly team or follow us on our social media platforms for more information about how Thistle Credit Union can help you thrive.

You may also like…

Thistle Credit Union, 5 Money Mistakes to Avoid This Halloween, West of Scotland, Scotland, Affordable Loans, Personal Finance

5 Money Mistakes to Avoid This Halloween

Let’s be honest, we all have financial horror stories. Learning from these experiences are key to helping us develop a healthy relationship with money. Here are 5 common money mistakes to avoid this Halloween.

Read More »
Thistle Credit Union, How Marketers Convince You to Spend More Money, West of Scotland, Scotland, Affordable Loans, Borrowing, Cheap Loans, Personal Finance

How Marketers Trick You into Spending More Money

As we head into the holiday season, businesses will start ramping up their marketing efforts in an attempt to convince you to spend your hard earned money with them. Given that you’ve worked hard for your money, businesses should also work hard to take it from you. Here are 5 tricks that marketing departments us to try and get their hands on your cash.

Read More »
Hooded man sitting on a laptop on front of green binary code

How to Identify and Protect Yourself From AI Financial Scams in 2026

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is growing at a rapid pace, and although it has the potential to drive ground breaking innovation in science, medicine and climate change, it also has the potential to be weaponised by those who have bad intensions wanting to make a quick buck. In this article, we discuss the four common types of AI scams, how we can identify them and how we can protect ourselves from them.

Read More »