Home Improvement Loans

Renovating your flat on a budget

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Are you looking to give your home a makeover without breaking the bank? You may be surprised to learn that you can actually successfully renovate your flat on a reasonable budget.

786 Loans explain how.

Renovating to live in or renovating to sell?

Flats are quickly becoming one of the most popular property investments that you can make. Young couples and people without children are less inclined to buy large houses with lots of space that they don’t really need. This makes apartments a much more attractive option for a large percentage of the population.

You can generally pick up a good quality flat for two-thirds of the price that you would pay for a house. So, if you chose to renovate before reselling, this means you could make a considerable profit for a smaller initial investment.

If you are renovating solely to increase the resale value of your property, it may be worth basing your renovations around what potential buyers are looking for rather than your personal tastes.

Modern kitchen and bathroom suites can add a great deal of value to your apartment but you may also consider adding another bedroom to your flat if there’s the room before you put it on the market.

This is a really popular option in apartments where the kitchen is originally in its own room. By converting the kitchen into an extra room and placing a small kitchenette in the living room space, you can potentially convert your one bedroom flat into a family home. As you’d expect, a two bedroom home sells for considerably more than a single bed room flat.

Alternatively, you may simply wish to renovate your flat to make it a nicer, more attractive, and better functioning place to live in. When you’re working on a budget, it is important that you pick out the aspects most in need of attention to carry out first.

Make a list of your priorities

Renovations can be exciting but please do make sure that you get the basics out of the way before you begin on your personal touches. If your home is in desperate need of any repairs or updating, these should be at the top of your list of priorities.

Newly bought flats will have been surveyed for any faults before your purchase. This is a great place to start when it comes to seeing which jobs need tackling first.

Perhaps the roof above your top-floor flat is leaking or old, inefficient windows pushing up the price of your heating bills every year. By getting these important repairs out of the way first, you can budget the rest of your renovations much more effectively.

Once the must-haves are complete, you can look at your more aesthetic changes. Cracks in the plaster, outdated wallpaper, and worn out carpets can be an eyesore. Sprucing up all of these small details can completely transform the appearance of your home.

Only replace what needs replacing

When it comes to making your list of priorities, make sure you’re not blowing your budget on changes that don’t really need to be made.

You may initially feel like you need a completely new kitchen but there are steps you can take to stay within your budget.

Flats that have been converted from older houses, in particular, tend to appear more outdated than purpose-built apartments but that doesn’t mean they can’t be upgraded to the same level on a budget.

If you were to stick with the original wood floor hiding beneath your laminate flooring instead of replacing it, you could save as much as £500 on labour and materials. You could also skip the replacements entirely and give your existing fittings a makeover instead.

Repainting old cabinets, resurfacing counter tops, and adding new faucets instead of pulling out the kitchen sink will all give the appearance of a modernized home at a fraction of the cost.

Shop around

Whether you are planning on bringing in an expert, DIYing your flat renovation project, or a mixture of the two, you will need to shop around to make sure you get the best possible prices.

General materials will take up the largest percentage of your budget. For larger jobs such as replacing your kitchen, you may find it cheaper to buy each of the components (such as your oven, cabinets, and sink) separately rather than as a package fitting through a large organisation.

Local tradesmen tend to have much more attractive prices than these national companies too. That’s why you should always compare quotes on your installations as well as price tags on your materials.

Do as much of it yourself as you can

As you break up your overall renovation project into separate, smaller jobs, you may realise that you can do some of the work yourself. It can be tempting to leave all of your renovations to expert tradesmen but the cost of doing this can quickly blow your budget and, in many cases, is simply unnecessary.

Stripping wallpaper, purchasing materials, and plastering, sanding and repainting walls are all simple tasks that can be easily DIYed. Not only will you have the rewarding satisfaction of knowing you have physically contributed to your flat renovation but you will also save a great deal of money in the process.

Ask friends and family for trusted tradesmen

There are, of course, certain aspects of your renovations that you should always leave to the professionals. Things like structural repairs, plumbing, gas and electrics, and asbestos removal are all complicated jobs that can easily go wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing.

For renovation projects that call for a qualified expert, you should always look around for the best possible price. Cheapest does not always mean best and there are plenty of ‘cowboy’ tradesmen out there carrying out low-quality jobs.

The best way to combat this is by asking your friends and family for their personal recommendations. This way you can choose the tradesman with a good track record of completing high-quality renovations for the lowest price.

Be the project manager

In large renovation projects, you may be tempted to take on a project manager to keep track of the various tradesmen working throughout your flat. When you’re working on a strict budget, taking on this role yourself can be a great money-saver.

It is important to note that managing your flat renovation yourself comes with a lot of responsibility. It’ll be up to you to find the right subcontractors for each task, coordinate their day-to-day duties, and double-check you have the right planning permission for the work they’re doing.

With the right amount of organisation, you could save yourself between 10% and 15% on the total cost of your renovation by forgoing hiring a project manager.

Can you do it from your own cash or do you need some help?

It seems that no matter how carefully you plan your spending for your renovation project, something always threatens to push you over your budget limit. One way to predict the total cost of your renovations as accurately as possible is by getting quotes on each of your jobs early on.

We recommend you always get quotes from at least three tradesmen on each aspect of your project so you can choose the best-priced professional.

Some homeowners choose to pay for their flat renovations using their savings, but this is not an option for everybody. Tradesmen often require deposits and payment on the completion of their work, which means you need the funds to pay them upfront.

If you are looking for a way to spread the cost of your flat renovations, a personal loan would give you the money to pay for all materials and labour then spread the cost over a number of months or even years.

Find the ‘bad credit’ loans with 786 Loans

If you’re looking to renovate your flat and you have a not so good credit score, compare personal loans with 786 Loans. We offer a comprehensive loan brokering service that helps you find a loan that suits you.

Simply tell us how much you would like to borrow and how long you would like the money for and we can help you find your next short-term loan.

To apply for a loan with 786 Loans, Click Here.