Could low base rate make big home improvements easier?

While financial advice website Motley Fool suggests that obtaining the finance needed for a large home improvement such as a conservatory could prove difficult, it may be that the new base rate of interest will cause a loosening of conditions.

In the absence of a five-figure cash sum, homeowners looking to add a conservatory or other home improvement have only two realistic options, according to the website.

Homeowners could consider a secured personal loan using the value of their home as a deposit on the deal, or could even remortgage their house to release equity.

Both options have proven popular in the past but Motley Fool suggests that the credit crunch has seen lenders tighten conditions and that it may prove more difficult to achieve a favourable deal as a result.

However, the Bank of Englands Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recently cut the base rate of interest to just two per cent, meaning that it may be that lenders relax their criteria in 2009.

Earlier this year, GE Money announced that adding a conservatory can add almost seven per cent to the value of a home.