Your home has a value that goes far beyond its purchase price. Of course, when future homeowners review their choices and options, the financial value of a property plays a significant role in the offer they are going to make to the seller. The offer, indeed, is established by comparing how much the house is worth in comparison with how much additional improvement and renovation works will cost. The final offer needs to take into consideration how much you, as a home buyer, will have to spend on the property to make it your home. Nevertheless, your mortgage application will need to combine both the price of the property and the cost of all additional works. But it would be foolish to assume that the value of your home is only a price tag. There is a lot more to a house than its market value. But more importantly, failing to recognise the variety of factors that create value for your home might also put you at risk of letting your house waste away. The question you really ought to ask yourself now is whether you are making the absolute most of your property value, from its price to its additional features. Here are some ideas to stop you wasting value!

British homes are among the smallest in Europe. As a result, iconic standard furniture, such as a double bed, is the kind of things that you don’t get to see often in a continent house. Why so? Because a king-size bed is the standard size in the rest of Europe. It turns out our neighbours have a lot more room in their bedroom! But, ultimately, while everything is smaller in the UK, it doesn’t mean you can’t have nice things at home. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for British households to be so crowded with ill-chosen furniture and decorative items that the house feel uninviting. If you find your home too small and too cluttered, it’s probably because you’re not making the most of the space available. Pick furniture that works for your space, instead of buying items that are not suited to your home, and you’ll find that the property becomes roomier in an instant!

Most families choose to buy a house with one or more extra bedrooms to ensure that the living area – the kitchen and living room – are big enough to hold their favourite furniture. However, what do you do with an extra bedroom that you don’t need? For the majority of households, the extra bedroom becomes a guest bedroom, even though most guests choose not to stay over. The rest of the time, the room is left unused. But you could find a practical purpose to give a new value to this empty room. If you’re comfortable with welcoming strangers under your roof, you could consider renting your room. Through the renting a room scheme, you can even make up to £7,500 tax-free per year – any additional gain will have to be declared. If you’re not keen on becoming a full-time landlord or a landlady, you could simply transform your empty room into a home office and rent it out to startups. Small businesses indeed need premises to launch their companies. After all, even Google started in a garage.

Did you know that most mortgage agreements become obsolete within the first few years? Indeed, as your financial situation improves, the conditions under which you were granted a mortgage don’t exist anymore. One of the main differences is the improvement of your credit score since the purchase of the house. Being a homeowner can improve your credit score, especially if your financial history shows timely payment for your mortgage. Consequently, you could consider looking for options to change your mortgage agreement through a refinance calculator, which can be used to replace your existing mortgages, or even to combine several loans under one umbrella payment. In the long term, checking out how your financial situation could affect your mortgage can save you tonnes of money!

Home maintenance generates costs that can’t, unfortunately, be erased. You need to service your boiler regularly; you need to look after the garden; you need to replace the roof every 30 years or so. But aside from these unchangeable costs, there are running costs that can be challenged and transformed effectively. With the increasing energy fees, it’s fair to say that most households in the UK are receiving crippling energy bills. Switching providers can help you to lower these costs. However, the best solution is to only pay for the energy you use. In other words, you need to train your family to create an energy-efficient home. Get used to unplug appliances – phone chargers, TV, etc. – when you don’t use them. Simple hacks such as turning your shower temperature down by only a few degrees can save hundreds of £ over the year.

Everyone generates wastes. Even if you’re conscious not to buy items wrapped in plastic packaging, you will still create food waste. Organic wastes, however, don’t need to pile up in your kitchen bin. You can turn them into something useful, such as making compost for your garden. There are four types of uses to compost: moisture-holding mulch to nourish your plants, soil amendment for plantations, compost tea – the liquid matter – to nourish flowers and potted plants, and finally lawn top dressing to help the grass grow.

Last, but not least, once you’ve started making your own compost, there’s nothing stopping you from turning your garden into a money-saving machine. Growing your own vegetables can save you a lot of money on grocery shopping, without mentioning the additional health benefits of consuming healthy and untreated vegetables. You could save almost £2 per kilo for tomatoes, and £12 for raspberries.

In the end, there’s more value in your home that you first thought. From saving money on your mortgage repayments to renting out a room, you could make sure your home is working for you!