Times have changed in recent years, mainly due to the global recession and the economic downturn which has amongst other things crippled the housing market here in the United Kingdom. Prior to this downturn statistics showed that on average UK homeowners moved house once every five to seven years, this however is no longer the case, many homeowners are stuck in negative equity and simply owe more to the bank or building society than their house is actually worth making selling up and moving near impossible, unless your willing to make a loss and use those savings that you put away for a rainy day to make up the different.

There is however another option, that option is don't move improve, meaning that if you find yourself in this situation simply stay put and use any savings to improve or completely remodel your home. If you are fortunate enough to be in fulltime employment and can comfortably pay your mortgage, your household bills and still put a little money away then why is being in negative equity a big problem? your house value will eventually rise no matter how poor the market is at the moment and any improvement you do now will make your house value rise a lot more when the market eventually recovers.

The types of home improvements you should consider getting done depends on a lot of different factors such as house type and style, size, age and above all your budget. Another thing to consider when committing to any type of home improvement or remodel is whether it's being done simply as an aid to eventually sell your home for a much higher price in the future or whether its being done for your own benefit and you plan on staying put for many years. A popular home improvement at the moment is adding a conservatory, conservatory prices have come down a great deal over the last few years due to more efficient manufacturing processes and a more competitive market therefore we advise anyone thinking about a new conservatory to go online and get a conservatory quote but use multiple sites so you can compare prices, you should also consider the self build option as well as the fully fitted option as hiring your own fitter could also save you money.

Another popular and low cost improvement doing the rounds at the moment is roof coating, also sometimes known as roof sealing , which is a special compound that is sprayed on top of your existing worn and stain roof tiles which not only gives the appearance of a new roof but has many other benefits such as increasing the roofs life span and adding another level on insulation to your home which is very beneficial in these times of rising heating costs. If your are going have your roof coated then you should also consider upgrading worn fascias and soffits with brand new UPVC replacements.

Although the most popular aesthetically pleasing home improvement today has got to be pattern imprinted concrete, which most people use for driveways but also looks great for path and patios, pattern imprinted concrete comes in a range of colours and styles with some companies even allowing you to have a say and create your own pattern.