Kitchen design
Kitchens and bathrooms are the most expensive rooms in a property to
build and replace. They are also the two rooms that tend to most
differentiate a poor property from a quality one.
Kitchen renovation costs in a rented property can be drastically
reduced while reaching the highest rental income potential with
careful planning.
Buy2letExpert.com will advise on the details applicable to a
particular property but some general design guides are:
- Do NOT become personally involved. Design the kitchen for the
tenants and their needs. A well designed budget kitchen beats a
badly designed expensive kitchen every time. Good planning is
essential and cannot be emphasised enough. Time invested and
experience pays dividends here.
- Always remember the tenant as they are the boss! If young they
are likely to be fashion conscious. The contemporary kitchen of
today will be out of date in 10 years so design for the future. For example, spend on floors, plumbing and electrics which can
remain if the kitchen is to be updated in 5 years time but do not
overspend on kitchen cabinets which can be changed easily and
cheaply after 5 years or so if the kitchen is designed properly.
- Kitchens tend to be intensely used in a rented property as all
bedrooms tend to be occupied. Hence selection of appropriate white
goods is important. A few guides might be:
- Decent sized freezer and fridge. If no room freezer can be in
another room
- Washing machine capable of washing decent weight but avoid paying
for special features on the machine.
- Dishwashers are almost a must. Slim line versions are available
if space is short
- Microwaves. There must be at least provision for one. Integration
into the kitchen (rather than on worktop) saves space and looks
better. Integrated models are becoming far cheaper and a must in
premium properties.
- It is amazing how quite an old kitchen can be transformed into
something 90% better at minimal cost. This may be appropriate in
many circumstances.
- Kitchens should always be 100% clean at handover and this should
be noted on the inventory with accompanying photographs. Then there
can then be no arguments about cleaning at the end of the tenancy
which is important as kitchen cleaning is often an issue.
- Kitchen improvements are usually tax deductable if treated as
repairs but please contact us for more detailed advice
regarding
this tax issue.
Site management of kitchen works is important. Works are likely to
involve plumbers, tilers, electricians, joiners, masons and more.
Buy2LetExpert ensures good site and project management resulting in
timely completion and maximum returns for the investor by minimising
the void period.
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