Almost half of Kiwi homeowners are renovating to add value to their biggest asset, with more than a quarter seeking to make their home more eco-friendly, a new survey has found.
A Westpac NZ survey of more than 800 homeowners showed that seven in ten home owners are in renovation mode – either recovering from, doing it now, or planning to in the next year. And nearly one in three of people currently carrying out a renovation are investing to making their home more energy efficient.
The high cost and effort of moving house were key reasons cited by those polled. Nineteen percent of current renovators said the cost of improvements to their existing property was more affordable than moving house. Another 18 percent of the surveyed chose to renovate because moving house was too much effort, and similar numbers said they didn’t like what they saw in the market.
The Westpac survey found that 47 percent of renovators wanted to increase the value of their home and 37 percent wanted to change their home’s aesthetics.
Start your property search
Twenty-seven percent of homeowners say they’ve purchased a property that needs work and 24 percent simply enjoying DIY.
Westpac NZ chief experience officer Shane Howell says the survey results show how big Kiwis were on renovations.
“Giving high house prices we are seeing a big shift towards renovations. How long will this trend last for is a question mark.”
Howell is encouraged to see more Kiwis creating warmer and drier homes while reducing a footprint on the environment.
“It’s a massive market and it’s growing day by day. It’s great for us to see those results so we can focus on supporting those trends."
New Zealand Green Building Council chief executive Andrew Eagles says number of people investing into sustainable and health homes has grown in the last three years.
He says that an energy-efficient renovation can cost from hundreds of dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars for major projects. NZGBC focuses on improving heating, insulation and ventilation to ensure the house is not losing heat through roof, floors, windows and doors.
“Almost half of our homes are damp and mouldy. We have heaps of homes that have crap insulation,” says Eagles.
Eagles recommends installing fans in the bathroom and kitchen, put in an underfloor insulation and upgrade to a heat-recovery insulation as a cost-effective way to significantly improve your home. Affordable upgrades like double-sided curtains and draught excluders for the doors go a long way, Eagles says.
“Lots of people go for sexy solar panels before doing a basic insulation fix and the warmth that’s coming into their home is leaking from all the gaps.”
Howell says it’s important to set realistic expectations and get the right advice before getting into a house makeover.
“Make sure you get out and talk to the right people – builders, real estate agents and bankers,” he says.
“Kiwis have always loved a renovation job, but what we could be seeing right now is more people taking advantage of low interest rates to fund home improvement rather than selling and entering a challenging housing market.”
But there are exceptions to the keen Kiwi DIYers: 32 percent of homeowners say they haven’t renovated their home in the past two years and have no plans to do so.
