Property news roundup: The 10 most avoided DIY jobs

Plus, Prime London hotspots, and how much per room?

Environmental health officers recommend noisy DIY should only take place between 8am and 6pm on weekdays, on Saturdays between 8am and 1pm and never on a Sunday.

DIY-ers in Britain cause £158 worth of damage to their own homes each year because of bodged work, suggests a new report.

Just over half of those who attempt their own repairs admit it is only because they do not want to pay for a professional, according to The Co-operative Insurance, whil 11 per cent simply don’t want strangers in their home.

The average cost of fixing DIY disasters was £158 per household per year while more than a third also injured themselves.

However, there are some jobs that are too ambitious to take on and the report lists the top 10 most avoided DIY jobs:

1) Replacing fallen roof tiles (not undertaken by 59%)

2) Plumbing (58%)

3) Installing a shower (56%)

4) Plastering (52%)

5) Knocking down a wall (49%)

6) Laying a carpet (45%)

7) Paving the drive (44%)

8) Laying laminate flooring (41%)

9) Fitting a kitchen unit (40%)

10) Clearing the gutters (35%)

The report also shows that just 36 per cent of people own their own tool kit and nine per cent just buy what they need as they need it.

How much per room?

There are some interesting facts and figures put together by Lucian Cook at Savills in their recent report on the nation's housing market.

In London the average value of a room in the most expensive areas works out at over £262,000 - in the North East the top average is £39,000 per room. Similarly, the cost per household member shows a similarly wide range, varying from £31,500 to £106,000 in the North East and £63,000 to £264,000 in the South East. In the most expensive parts of London the average cost per household member is over £560,000.

Prime London hotspots

The Prime London market enjoyed a bumper January in 2014, according to new figures from estate agent Marsh & Parsons. Their latest report shows that almost half of Prime London property sold for or in excess of, the asking price and that in January just over a third of properties sold within two weeks of being put on the market.

It also indicates that the average value of two-bedroom properties in Outer Prime London increased by nearly £100,000 during 2013 - the average price in this area (including areas such as Brook Green, Fulham and Barnes) is now £673,812. This is an increase of £98,214 since the end of 2012.

The top five Outer Prime ‘hotspots’ where the highest levels of growth were recorded during 2013 were Barnes (up 19 per cent), Balham, Clapham, Fulham (all 18 per cent), and Battersea (15 per cent).