This Year’s Top 3 Most Popular Home Renovations

Edinburgh building experts, Revere Contracts, report dramatic surge in enquiries and reveal this year’s top three most popular home renovations


If 2020 will be remembered as the year we stayed at home, 2021 will be remembered as the year we renovated our homes. That’s according to new figures released by Edinburgh building experts, Revere Contracts, who have seen the number of enquiries relating to home extensions and renovations soar dramatically within the first quarter.

With schools, offices, restaurants, and gyms closed for large parts of last year, many Edinburgh residents realised their homes needed to be adapted to accommodate a new way of living. Lockdown saw families working, playing, eating, exercising, and resting all under one roof for weeks and months on end, so it’s little wonder that so many are now desperate to create more living space!

Money that would perhaps otherwise have been spent on holidays, eating out, or entertainment is being invested in home renovation projects. In fact, the number of projects undertaken by Revere Contracts within the first quarter of this year has risen by an impressive 216% in comparison to the same time last year.

According to Revere Contracts, the top three most popular home renovation projects in 2021 are:

The home office to inspire remote workers

Lockdown saw thousands of people hastily set up a makeshift home office area in their bedroom or kitchen. And whilst working on a laptop at the kitchen table may have been a necessary short-term solution during Lockdown, having other family members cooking, playing, and doing homework in the same room is unsustainable, especially as more businesses have now decided to make a permanent switch to remote working. Couple this with the ‘Zoom-barrassment’ that comes with making video calls with the chaos of family life playing out in the background, many have decided that it’s time to invest in a proper home office.

Some homeowners have achieved this with a relatively simple garage conversion. Others have benefitted from a new garden studio, or a single storey extension at the back of their property.

The kitchen that brings the restaurant experience home

With bars and restaurants closed, people have been spending more time cooking and dining at home. It has also made many people realise just how important it is to come together and enjoy a meal, so many are planning ahead for when they can eventually welcome friends and family to join them around the table.

With that in mind, Revere Contracts reported a marked increase in the number of homeowners knocking down internal walls to create an open-plan kitchen-diner, whilst many others have decided to extend their kitchen out into their garden to create more space.

Revere Contracts 2

The guest bedroom to welcome back friends and family

When the current restrictions are finally lifted, many people will want their extended family to visit and stay on a regular basis to make up for lost time.

There has therefore been a big increase in the number of home extensions, to create an extra bedroom to accommodate future guests.

Commenting on the latest figures, Revere Contracts Managing Director Iain Martin explains; ‘We predicted there may be an increased demand for renovations after Lockdown but the sheer volume of enquiries that have come through this quarter has been unbelievable. 

‘After being cooped up together for so long, many growing families have come to the realisation that their current home just isn’t working for them. But the speed at which properties are selling and the amount they are exceeding the Home Report value has understandably put many off moving. So instead, they’ve been looking into ways of adding space to their current properties’. 

The good news for these homeowners is that home improvements, such as an extension, can add as much as 20% to the value of a property. Which no doubt means high demand for Revere Contracts’ home renovation services will continue into the second quarter of 2021 and beyond.

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