Over the last five years, many people have decided to improve their current homes instead of moving. While some improvements, such as bathroom and kitchen renovations, can boost the value of your home, others should be avoided.

Some improvements can have the opposite effect and create undesirable characteristics that can reduce the value of your home as well as put off buyers. According to Joshua Houston, a property expert at WhatCost, this can range from adding a swimming pool to your home to making it too personalised.

1. Swimming pool

The expert said: “Whilst to some, a swimming pool might seem like a great addition, to others, it will be an expensive feature to run and maintain. It can also only be used during the warmer days of the year, which in the UK isn’t many.

“This will put many buyers off as they might have to get rid of the pool if they choose to buy the property. The additional costs could devalue the property.”

2. Cinema room

Cinema rooms are a dream for film lovers, but they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.

In fact, they can be expensive to install and add no real value to a home, deterring many buyers.

3. Brightly coloured home front

Joshua said: “Having a brightly coloured front on your property can be effective, depending on the surrounding houses and area.

“However, if your home sticks out too much in a sea of darker and more traditional colours, then this could be a problem.

“You’ll have to find a buyer who likes brighter-coloured properties, and this tends to be rare, which devalues the home.

“Alternatively, a new buyer will have to pay to paint over, costing them more money, which will come out of the buying price.”

4. Too personalised

Whilst we all want a home to feel cosy and like our own, overpersonalisation can be a huge turn-off for buyers.

The expert added: “For example, you might love leopard skin, but the majority of people won’t be too keen on it. They will have to spend a large sum of money to replace it with a more neutral design.”

5. Removing a bedroom

If you’re lucky enough to have more bedrooms than you need, it can be tempting to convert them into something else.

However, reducing the number of bedrooms can “seriously lower” the asking price of your property if you’re selling.

Buyers would welcome a spare bedroom, but would be put off if there isn’t enough to meet their needs.