Financing big home improvements

With the housing fiasco meaning more homeowners are being forced to abandon plans of selling, financial advice website Motley Fool has been examining ways to finance a large-scale home improvement.

Improving the current property may be an ideal way of boosting its value and its appeal – a fact backed up by figures released by GE Money in the summer that suggested that a conservatory could add almost seven per cent to the value of the home.

Motley Fool believes there are two main ways to finance a large-scale project such as a conservatory.

The likelihood is that the person looking to carry out the home improvement is a homeowner and thus it is possible that a secured loan or a remortgage may be the best options in the absence of a five-figure cash sum.

The website points out that both options may be slightly trickier to pursue thanks to stricter lending conditions imposed in the wake of the credit crunch.

However, a low base rate of interest may encourage lenders to ease up a little in 2009, allowing homeowners to install the home improvements they desire.