There are many reasons for people to build house extensions in the West Midlands. It might be the desire to create some more storage space, a response to having a growing family, or to add a ‘granny flat’ for an elderly member of the family to live in.

It is also worth bearing in mind the impact an extension can have in adding value to a home, something worth considering when regional trends in house prices are examined.

Like the rest of the UK, the West Midlands has seen prices rising significantly over the past couple of years and while many experts are predicting a cooling of the market as inflation takes its toll and growth slows, the fact is that, for now at least, the market remains hot.

However, the latest UK House price Index published by the Office For National Statistics (ONS) and the Land Registry this month showed that, while prices in the West Midlands were up 11.8 per cent per cent year-on-year, this was comparatively weak when set against other English regions. Only the north east (10.7 per cent) and London (7.9 per cent) fared worse.

While the overall English average was only a little higher than the West Midlands at 11.9 per cent, dragged down as it was by London, other parts of the UK did much better; Scotland and Wales both experienced increases of 16.2 per cent.

How much value an extension will add will depend on various factors, such as the area, the nature of the extension – for instance whether it is a larger kitchen, a new bathroom or an extra bedroom – and its aesthetic quality.

However, a broad guide can be found in the ONS extension value calculator. For instance, a 25 sq m extension to the typical home in Birmingham would add £43,650, while the figure for Wolverhampton would be £34,875.

This could prove invaluable if, as expected, the weaker wider economy starts to cool the housing market soon.