If you’re one of those people who can only smile ruefully when you see your neighbor has bought a new Lexus or just returned from Barbados knowing full well that they found the money using equity release from their house then you must be the kind of person who looks on his home as an investment not an ATM machine. You probably don’t just want value for money in the kind of home improvement loan you take out but want to know that you’re adding value to your bricks and mortar.

Realtors in the know will tell you new kitchens and bathrooms, if done judiciously, can add significantly not just to the price of a house but to that oft neglected factor of saleability – a home that lingers on the market can be as costly as a drop in price, especially in the current sluggish market. Be careful though! It’s as easy to spend too much on your abode as it is to neglect it. Real estate agents have many war stories of overly ambitious decoration schemes that are a delight to their owners but would make Versailles look dowdy in comparison and leave potential buyers beating a hasty retreat.

The smart way to spend your home improvement loan is to think of shelling out no more than six percent of your home’s value on either a bathroom or kitchen, otherwise you may struggle to recoup that money. If you are the more ambitious sort and have grand plans for converting your attic or adding an extension, do seriously consider consulting an architect, apart from advice on zoning regulations and the like, an architect can add imagination and verve that will pay for itself over the long run.