Sheffield property: How decluttering, cleaning and staging your home could add £16k to the value

Staging is generally considered to be an American property market import, but it really just requires a few finishing touches in addition to the work we already put in before placing our homes on the market.

The general approach to staging is to give your home a full overhaul including neutral paint jobs, sorting the garden, decluttering and cleaning.

And it pays dividends according to the latest property market analysis by London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves. It says the the average cost of a home in Yorkshire is £185,968, so one per cent should be budgeted for staging – £1,860.

The average return is 10 per cent on your investment which is £18,597 in Yorkshire, meaning your house price rises to £202,706 – a profit of £16,737.

Staging focuses on the small details, such as replacing cupboard handles or updating taps and tiles. Other tips include utilising mirrors to create the illusion of more space, making the beds and the dining room table, buying matching towels, cushions and pillowcases - the list of these minute touches can be endless.

Whether you do it yourself or call in a professional staging company, there’s a general rule of thumb to follow to avoid overspending while adding real value to your home.

First off, you should set your staging budget at one per cent of your properties market value. That’s £2,642 on the average UK home.

However, if done correctly, staging can boost the price achieved for your property by 10 per cent, that’s an additional £26,424 for the average UK homeowner.

That means that the average UK home could sell for £288,026, £23,782 more than the average home - and that’s after you’ve taken the initial cost of staging into consideration.

In London, a well staged home could achieve an average of £573,224 in the current market, £47,330 more than a non staged home. In the South East the figure is £32,226.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, said: “Property staging is becoming incredibly popular within the UK market and it’s something we not only encourage our sellers to do but also our landlords.

"It provides the small additional touches that may seem insignificant on their own, but together they really add the wow factor for those viewing a property. In fact, 86% of the rental properties we dress for the market rent within a week and generally secure a higher rental price as a result.

“We’ve found it to be particularly effective in the current London market of late where the stamp duty holiday hasn’t quite had the same impact.

"While we’re starting to see momentum build now, the capital has generally been much quieter over the last 12 to 18 months and so staging is a real differentiator for landlords and sellers.

"Over the years staging has helped hundreds of our landlords and sellers get more money and faster conclusions by standing out from the crowd.”