Home owners in Britain have added an estimated average of £40,000 to the value of their properties by doing home improvements in the past five years, new research has found.

The average spend has been £14,015 with garden landscaping, a gym, extension or walk-in wardrobe the most likely to increase the value of a property, adding around 19%.

Overall, some 64% of home owners made improvements over the last five years, spending £295 billion in total, according to the analysis based on the median asking price of £286,000 for a three bedroom semi-detached house by Post Office Money.

Those who have made changes to their home estimated that the improvements increased the value of their property by £40,000, from an average of £210,000 before the improvements to £250,000 afterwards, an average increase of approximately 19%.

A breakdown of the figures suggest that garden landscape costs an average of £2,750 and adds 77% to the value of a home, a gym costs around £10,000 and adds 44%, while an extension costing £80,000 adds 37%.

A walk in wardrobe costing £3,400 adds 34%, a jacuzzi or hot tub, costing £6,000, adds 27% while a swimming pool, costing around £30,000, adds just 22%. A basement conversion, costing around £90,000 adds an even lower 17%.

The improvement that add the least value include a new driveway costing £25,000 adding just 9%, a conservatory costing £9,000 adding 10% and a wet room costing £7,500 adding just 7%.

The most common improvement was a new kitchen with 25% of home owners opting for one, while 18% carried out garden landscaping, 16% bought a new shed, 14% added decking or a patio and 12% put in a new driveway.

‘Over the past few years, house price growth has slowed, so home owners have turned to other options to add value to their homes with renovations being a clear opportunity. Making the right changes to your home can increase its market value significantly but if improving your home’s asking price is your priority, it’s important to keep in mind the cost of the improvement and the value it could add,’ said Chrysanthy Pispinis from Post Office Money.

The research also found that while only 5% of those who have made home improvements in the past five years did so with the express intention of moving, 28% did so because they thought it would be a good investment and would add value to their property.

The most popular reason for making home improvements was to improve the look of a home with 59% doing so. To fund renovations some 74% used savings, 16% used a personal loan or credit card, while 6% used equity release or mortgages.

‘Home improvements are not all about making changes which add value for re-sale and 63% of the homeowners we polled had no plans to move. Renovations allow home owners to create homes that reflect their needs and tastes, with the potential added benefit of adding value in the long term,’ added Pispinis.