UK property values fall for fourth month in a row

Property expert outlines best ways for homeowners to add value to their home through good maintenance amidst price slump 

Dasha Klyachko, CEO and Founder of Livlet – the UK’s leading home management platform – comments why smart home management is the MOST effective way to maintain optimal property value, saving time and money

Throughout 2022, house prices continued to soar to record levels – by 9.5% in the year to September 2022 according to The UK Property Transactions Statistics. However, according to recent figures from Halifax, the average UK house price fell for the fourth month in a row in December, in tandem with mortgage lenders Nationwide who reported the same trend. Halifax reported that property values decreased by 1.5% in December, after a 2.4% drop in November, a 0.4% decrease in October and a 0.1% dip in September. This trend has contradicted what many experts predicted in anticipation of 2023.

In light of this, property expert and CEO of Livlet – the UK’s first intelligent home management platform – Dasha Klyachko, highlights the best home maintenance practices to ensure homeowners can maintain their properties at the highest value throughout 2023.
Good maintenance can help you save money on repairs in a number of ways. By regularly maintaining your property, you can identify and fix small issues before they become larger, more costly problems. For example, if you notice a small leak in a pipe, fixing it promptly can prevent the leak from turning into a burst pipe, which would be much more expensive to repair. Similarly, regularly cleaning, tracking and maintaining appliances and their respective insurances and warranties, such as for your HVAC system, refrigerator, and washing machine can help them last longer and run more efficiently, potentially saving you money on repairs or replacements.

Other ways to add value to your property and become appealing to buyers through good maintenance:

• Keep the exterior well-maintained: This includes keeping the lawn neatly trimmed, fixing any broken fences or gates, and painting or repairing the exterior of the house as needed.
• Make necessary repairs in a timely fashion: Fix any broken appliances, leaky faucets, or other issues that may be present in the property.
• Update the interior: Consider making updates to the kitchen and bathrooms, as these are often the areas that potential buyers focus on the most.
• Add energy-efficient features: Installing energy-efficient windows, appliances, and heating and cooling systems can help lower utility bills and make the property more attractive to potential buyers.
• Improve curb appeal: Add some landscaping, paint the front door, or add some outdoor lighting to make the property more attractive from the outside.

Dasha Klyachko, CEO and Founder of Livlet, comments:

“By connecting and understanding data about our homes, we can save time, money and effort while moving towards a more sustainable future. Automating document filing, uploading bills and storing warranty information is a huge help. Imagine instantly having access to information about the lifespan and repair history of the boiler, how to reach the contractor who installed the oven, or when the gutters were last cleaned out.

“Now technology can go even further. By creating a digital picture of our homes and how we use them, it’s possible to predict what maintenance will be required or to anticipate potential system failures, as well as provide a financial overview of the home; where we spend the most money and how we can make savings.

“An intelligent data system will be able to provide a holistic view of our homes to proactively give advice on how to make them more environmentally sustainable and evaluate what improvements will add the most value.”

About Livlet

Livlet is a web-based digital home management tool that simplifies homeownership. Livlet uses technology to connect all the details about a home in an intelligent way that helps homeowners proactively manage every aspect of homeownership so that they can make smart and timely decisions that increase home efficiency, save money and reduce their carbon footprint to improve their quality of life and property value.

Livlet was founded by Dasha Klyachko, an entrepreneur who was finding that managing her home was complex, time consuming and stressful. She saw an opportunity to change the way we manage our homes. And so Livlet was born in 2020. Dasha has a strong business background having founded a consulting services business in 2000 that tested financial applications for banks, brokerages, and tools providers which she grew to 1,000 employees