Can You Add Thousands to Your Property Value with Underfloor Heating?

You’ve seen it everywhere, “efficient underfloor heating adds thousands to property values”. Underfloor heating fitters across the UK list this as one of the biggest benefits to installing it in your property. Aside from providing luxury, cost-efficiency, and convenience, installing heated floors increases the desirability of your property in the eyes of potential buyers.

The question remains: how much does it increase value on average, and is this a tangible increase in property value worth hiring underfloor heating fitters for?

 

How Much Value Can you Gain from Installing Heated Floors

A survey from SGS engineering stated that buyers were willing to pay £3,000 above the asking price for a home if it had underfloor heating installed in certain areas, especially bathrooms and kitchens. Other surveys reported that buyers were willing to bid as much as £10,000 for properties with full underfloor heating.

If combined with a smart heating control, which our underfloor heating fitters can supply, this can add from £200-500 onto the desirability of a home.

This is because more and more homeowners and first time buyers want heating efficiency in a prospective home. A survey by the UK Government showed that running and purchase costs were important factors for heating systems. It also found that there was increasing demand for eco-friendly heating, particularly with younger people.

Bear in mind that these figures are in addition to the asking price, which is what a property valuer will assign after considering all factors in your home. This is where the true value of efficient underfloor heating is determined.

 

Heating Factors that Affect Property Value

The truth is, there are a lot of factors that determine how many thousands of pounds you would add to your property from installing heated floors. It’s not just the base value of the system itself compared to radiators. Any good valuation agent and homebuyer assesses a variety of things related to your heating.

Where areas are old or lacking, you will find a decrease in value or demand. Where you have state-of-the-art features, value and demand will skyrocket. These factors are as follows:

The Age and Condition of Your Current Setup

Radiators have a life expectancy of around 10–12 years before their efficiency is significantly reduced. Over time, corrosion builds up in pipes and seals on joints weaken. This reduces their ability to transfer heat and increases the likelihood of leaks occurring.

A property that has a significantly aged heating system reduces the value of a property. If the radiators look dated, such as flat 60s style radiators, this can potentially reduce the value further. Smart buyers will want to factor in repairs or replacements, reducing their willingness to meet or surpass your asking price. This can be up to £5000 for a 3-bedroom house, not including the boiler.

If your central heating system is over 15 years old, there’s little reason not to replace it with a more efficient underfloor setup. Not only will it prevent devaluation, but increase its value beyond what you would get from like-for-like replacement. 

 

Efficiency of Your Heating

An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a mandatory requirement for anyone looking to sell their property or rent it out. To obtain an EPC, a qualified professional analyses all factors of your building related to heating. From your boiler type to ventilation, amount of radiators and insulation.

The document resulting from this survey lists detailed information about a property’s energy efficiency. It details estimated running costs, and grades it from A-G, where A is most efficient.

This rating is extremely influential in determining the desirability of your property to prospective buyers. An EPC rating of C increases property values by as much as 10%, and 14% for the two highest ratings. If a home is valued at £100,000, that would add up to £14,000 onto the value if it has a high efficiency rating.

EPCs consider underfloor heating to be highly efficient and often list underfloor heating fittings in their recommendations for improvement. If your property has a rating under C, consider installing underfloor heating with floor insulation. This combination can raise your EPC rating by a whole grade!

 

The Quality of Installation

Compliance with building regulations is serious, especially when an EPC certificate needs to be issued. While you may not need planning permission for the majority of central heating work, that doesn’t ignore the fact that it has to be installed up to code.

While a property valuer may miss issues that would devalue your property, the EPC certificate or buyer surveys and inspections would not. This can cut thousands off the value of your property to factor full replacements to be carried out, at a stage where you have committed to selling it in-depth. Depending on the issue at hand, it can make your property unsellable until it is remedied.

What does this mean as a homeowner looking to improve your home? If your central heating system was not installed to code, or has obvious issues, nip it in the bud and get better heating installed. Furthermore, it means you should not cut corners when improving your house to increase its value.

Many homeowners install DIY electric underfloor heating, hoping that the reduced installation costs would result in more profit when selling their home. But this only backfires when it doesn’t have an electrical installation certificate or fails an electrical safety inspection.

 

Book Our Underfloor Heating Fitters

In conclusion, underfloor heating can increase the value of your home in two ways. As it is a desired home feature, it increases the attractiveness of your home to prospective buyers, who will be more likely to bid over your asking price. The second way it increases value is by addressing devaluation issues.

If your home’s central heating system is in need of significant repairs and replacements, this is when underfloor heating excels in adding value to your home. While increases in value are not as significant if your home already has a satisfactory heating setup, this shouldn’t prevent you from considering an upgrade.

Your home isn’t just an investment to sell for profit, it’s your home. If it suffers from cold spots in the winter or high energy bills, don’t wait until your radiators have passed their guarantee. Talk with one of our underfloor heating fitters to see how we can help.