Building a wine cellar can increase the value of a home by between £10,000 and £15,000.
This means an average increase of 7% in the value of the house, according to a report released by Standard Life Bank.
Standard Life marketing manager Ashley Ramsay told decanter.com, 'Our research shows that 2m Britons are planning to build a wine cellar, or buy a wine fridge in the next five years. And the people we spoke to anticipated that the investment could add value to their homes.'
According to the report, Britons waste £3.5bn a year on wines that sour from improper storage: the equivalent of 87m bottles.
But as wine knowledge grows and wine gains in popularity, so do proper wine storage units – the most sophisticated of which can cost thousands of pounds.
However Lucy Hargreaves, director of compact cellar building company Spiral Cellars, said her customer profile has shifted over the years. More 30-somethings are now willing to spend money on a cellar, with the hope that the investment will follow them up the property ladder.
'Even if a cellar owner moves house, the investment on the cellar is repaid by an increased value in the property,' Hargreaves said, 'which allows budget to install another cellar in their new home.'
Ramsay added that this potential investment opportunity is one of the reasons Standard Life conducted the research. 'While we can't predict the future, with wine sales in the UK continuing to increase we would not be surprised to see more people drawing down on their mortgage in the future to fund a wine cellar build,' she said.
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