From James Lockett ProperPR

Research from the game-changing property platform, Boomin, has revealed that the value of the nation’s spare rooms is estimated at at least £791.5bn, and that’s just those of us that admit to having two or more. 

The research shows that: –

• The average spare room is currently valued at £42,000 in the current UK market, the equivalent value of 1.3 Bitcoins or just over the average annual London salary.

• London is home to the most expensive spare room value at £76,476, followed by the South East (£54,346) and the East of England (£49,211). 

• Even in the North East where this value is at its lowest, homeowners are still sitting on a spare room value to the tune of £21,881 per room. 

• Statistics from the English Housing Survey by the Office for National Statistics show that 38% of homes in England are under-occupied – meaning they have two or more spare rooms.

• With 24.7m homes across England, that’s 9.4m homes boasting two or more rooms that are largely surplus to requirement. 

• Boomin estimates that, even at just two spare rooms in total, the current value of this spare space is a staggering £791.5bn – and that’s without counting those with just a single spare room. 

• London again ranks top where this total spare room value is concerned, with the capital accounting for an estimated £211.2bn worth of spare rooms value, with the South East (£1.65bn) and East of England (£102.2bn) also exceeding £100bn.

You can read the full release below but for any further info, comment or regional data, please get in touch with:

James Lockett

M: 07584 248960

T: 0207 856 0185

E: [email protected]

ProperPR

A waste of space – Homeowners sitting on £791.bn in spare room value

Research from the game-changing property platform, Boomin, has revealed that the value of the nation’s spare rooms is estimated at at least £791.5bn, and that’s just those of us that admit to having two or more. 

Boomin’s research found that 50% of us have one spare room within our homes. This spare space is currently valued at £42,000 per room in the current UK market, the equivalent value of 1.3 Bitcoins or just over the average annual London salary.

London is home to the most expensive spare room value at £76,476, followed by the South East (£54,346) and the East of England (£49,211). Even in the North East where this value is at its lowest, homeowners are still sitting on a spare room value to the tune of £21,881 per room. 

However, statistics from the English Housing Survey by the Office for National Statistics show that 38% of homes in England are under-occupied – meaning they have two or more spare rooms. With 24.7m homes across England, that’s 9.4m homes boasting two or more rooms that are largely surplus to requirement. 

Boomin estimates that, even at just two spare rooms in total, the current value of this spare space is a staggering £791.5bn – and that’s without counting those with just a single spare room. 

To put that wasted value into perspective, £791.bn is more than the entire GDP of Mexico and enough to purchase 9,062,761 brand new Porsche 911s. 

London again ranks top where this total spare room value is concerned, with the capital accounting for an estimated £211.2bn worth of spare rooms value, with the South East (£1.65bn) and East of England (£102.2bn) also exceeding £100bn. 

One way to get your spare room generating value rather than wasting it is via the government’s rent a room scheme. This allows you to generate rental income up to a maximum threshold of £7,500 per year without paying tax. That’s £625 per month in rent for a room you may otherwise rarely use. 

Michael Bruce, CEO and Founder of Boomin, says: “Many of us have a spare room and during the pandemic, they’ve been used as home gyms, offices, art studios and more, as we’ve tried to maintain some sense of normality both professionally and personally.  However, for many of us our spare room or rooms will generally sit untouched besides the odd visit from friends or family and they tend to double up as an overflow storage space for our old clothes, kids toys or other obsolete household items.  This is quite amazing when you consider that this underutilised space is worth over £40,000 per room and it certainly begs the question as to whether some homebuyers could save a considerable sum by being more realistic about how much space they actually need, compared to how much they would like. Alternatively, the government’s rent a room scheme provides the potential to generate some additional income from your spare room and you could earn up to £625 a month tax-free.” 50% of homeowners admitting to having a spare room based on a survey of 1,053 current homeowners conducted by Boomin via consumer research platform, FindOutNow (12/01/22) Table 1: Current value of a spare roomAverage house price sourced from Gov.uk – UK House Price Index (October 2021 – latest available) Average price per sq m based on total average house price divided by average property size of 73.45 sq m – based on average size of properties built 1930s-2010s (Source: LABC)Spare room value based on average price per sq m multiplied by the estimated average size of a spare room estimated at 10.88 sq m (Source: LABC)

Table 2: Total value of spare rooms in under-occupied homesNumber of under-occupied dwellings based on 38% of total dwellings as per research by the Office for National Statistics – English Housing Survey.Estimated value of spare rooms based on the number of under-occupied dwellings multiplied by the value of two spare rooms as a minimum.

END

Notes:

• Boomin launched on 2 April 2021. 
• Boomin was founded by Michael and Kenny Bruce and David Shepherd, who previously launched Purplebricks in 2014.
• Boomin is a unique marketplace providing property search and inspiration to home movers and improvers across the UK.
• Boomin has a world class internal team of close to 200 experts, including some 85 in technology, from leading digital businesses. 
• Recognised as one of the UK’s most innovative and disruptive new businesses in the Startups 100 2021 list. 
• Boomin is also innovating the way we value our homes with its unique SmartVal online valuation tool – which blends technology and data with local agent expertise to deliver the most accurate real-time online residential property valuation. It’s more accurate than digital valuations which are algorithm generated valuations based on historical data. 
• Available 24/7, SmartVal generates valuation opportunities by connecting agents with local vendors and landlords much earlier.