How smoking can damage your home's value
How smoking affects your house’s value is a common question. As more and more people are using their homes as an investment, it’s no surprise as to why many smokers are concerned that their habit could be devaluing their home.
We are all aware of the disastrous effects smoking has on public health, but the financial effects of smoking are also wide-reaching. Just by purchasing cigarettes, smoking starts putting a serious dent in your wallet. Shockingly, the average smoker will spend a staggering £3,285 on cigarettes every year. Add that up over 5 years and you could have had a deposit for a modest property! If that doesn't put things into perspective, after just one year of being smoke free, you could save enough money for a basic bathroom renovation.
However, it’s not just the initial cost of purchasing cigarettes that can hit your bank account, smoking can take a serious chunk out of your home’s value, too. Smoking’s effects on property value is actually more than just its selling costs, as we will explore below.
How does Cigarette Smoking Affect House Prices?
Simply put, houses where the previous occupant has been smoking are worth substantially less. According to reports by property experts, smoker’s houses are worth around 29% less than an otherwise smoke-free house. In the world of property, that is a massive reduction. For example, a smoke-free house worth £200,000 would only be worth £142,000 if it was damaged by smoke - a significant loss of £58,000.
It’s difficult to hide the evidence that a home has been smoked in. Discoloured walls and ceilings can be seen a mile away, not to mention the smell. To fully remove the smell of cigarette smoke, a whole room’s carpet and curtains will often need replacing. If every room in the house has been smoked in, you can only imagine the costs for prospective buyers.
Cigarette Smoker’s Houses put Buyers Off
According to studies, around half of buyers would be put off by a house that has been smoked in and would think twice about buying. That gives the seller far less leverage when it comes to selling. With less buyers interested, you are less likely to get the price that you want.
Many smokers may think that simply opening their windows or using air freshener may hide the fact the house has been smoked in, but it's rarely that easy. As we mentioned before, there are a lot of tell-tale signs of smoking that most buyers will notice, especially non-smokers.
What Kind of Damage can Cigarette Smoking do to a House?
Smoking inside over time can have a wide range of unpleasant aesthetic effects, as well as a lingering odour. Reports from houses that have been occupied by smokers show that these are some of the most common problems:
Cigarette Smoke Stains
Smoke stains are one of the most common types of cigarette damage and one that is hard to conceal. Cigarette smoke imparts a yellow tinge on surfaces including walls, ceilings and even household items. For houses that include multiple or heavy smokers, these stains can be quite dramatic and are found in most rooms of a smoker's home.
Getting rid of these unsightly stains can be a real issue for new home-owners. Appliances can be somewhat cleaned with a good deal of scrubbing, but may be beyond help. For walls and ceilings, redecorating is required, often with specialist paints that only increase renovation costs for prospective buyers.
Cigarette Smoke Odour
You may not be able to see smoke odour, but it can often be even more noticeable than stains. Particles from cigarette smoke can easily bind to any surface in a house, but especially fabrics and carpets. Because of how these particles seat themselves so deeply in fabrics, deodorisers are all but useless and will usually require the fabrics to be completely replaced.
Replacing the carpets and curtains for a full house is a costly and time consuming process, especially if furniture needs to be moved first. Furniture itself can also be an issue - for example, if a flat is pre-furnished, landlords may lose business or money due to furniture being imbued with the smell of cigarettes.
Cigarette Burns and Damage
Unfortunately, some smokers can be careless and leave cigarettes burning on surfaces rather than ashtrays. At worse, this can be incredibly dangerous, potentially causing a house fire; at best it can leave surfaces irreparably damaged. In the latter case, this can also adversely affect house prices.
Kitchen worktops are a common place for cigarette burns, and the marks can rarely be removed. This may require entire work surfaces to be replaced, which can be a very costly undertaking. As a result, buyers may ask for this cost to be reflected in the price they pay for the property.
Health Risks in Smoker's Houses
The costs associated with cigarette smoking on a house is only the beginning. People are becoming more aware of the health risks that come with the unpleasant appearance of cigarette damage. These health risks are caused by the smoke particles and residue that we discussed earlier; these particles not only cause odour and yellowing, but are also a health hazard to those within the property.
Known as ‘third-hand smoking’ or ‘THS’, the residue from smoking can retain much of the health-threatening properties associated with smoking and secondhand smoking. These smoking remnants can persist for months and even years, containing carcinogenic (otherwise known as cancer causing) chemicals.
Fabric surfaces are often more susceptible to retaining these harmful chemicals. Due to most of these fabrics being low down, such as carpets, research by San Diego State University came to the worrying conclusion that children and animals may be at even greater risk to THS than adults.
Vaping in the House
So what is the alternative for smokers who are worried about the costs of smoking cigarettes in their home? Well, aside from quitting out right or smoking outside, smokers may find that vaping offers a helpful alternative.
Will Vaping E-cigarettes Stain my Walls?
This is probably one of the main concerns with vaping in the house. However, vaping is unlikely to cause the same levels of staining as cigarettes do. This is because nicotine, the cause of yellow staining, has far less presence in the aerosol released by vaping.
If you vape very heavily then there may be risk of some staining, but this is mainly from dust adhering to vapour which can be wiped from surfaces easily. In fact, as some vape e-liquids contain no nicotine, the risks of staining can be reduced further.
Will Vaping Make my House Smell?
No, vaping will not make a house smell. Unlike smoking, the vapour from e-cigarettes does not contain the same sort of particles that will adhere to fabric and linger. When vaping, the aerosol exhaled quickly dissipates, so there is no risk of a permanent smell. The only time vaping smells is when breathing in the vapour, which is often quite sweet smelling!
Does Vaping Cause Third-hand Smoking?
The research into third-hand smoking and vaping is still ongoing. For e-liquids that contain nicotine there is a chance that a small amount may be imparted to fabrics. It may be better to look at research into passive vaping, which is a far more discussed subject at the moment. Thankfully, according to PHE: "to date, there have been no identified health risks of passive vaping to the health of bystanders".
Of course, there is still a risk of nicotine absorption from fabrics, but as we mentioned, the aerosol vaping contains far less nicotine than cigarettes. Other harmful materials found in cigarette smoke are also simply not found in e-liquid, as they only contain ingredients approved by regulators.
Switching from Smoking to Vaping
According to studies, vaping is 95% safer than smoking, which is all the reason many need to make the switch. However, as we’ve explored here, there are more than just health reasons to stamp out cigarettes for good. If you are thinking about buying a home or selling one, then it is probably best that you stay away from cigarette smoking.
