The ROI of home staging in the UK — what the numbers really say.

What home staging actually is

Home staging is the deliberate styling of a property for sale — furniture, soft furnishings, lighting, art and finishing touches arranged so that buyers see the home at its absolute best, both in person and in listing photography. It is the difference between a property that photographs well enough and one that stops a buyer mid-scroll on Rightmove.

In the UK, professional staging is governed by the Home Staging Association UK & Ireland (HSA) and, for international standards, RESA (the Real Estate Staging Association). At HÓMA, every stager we work with is accredited by one or both.

The headline numbers

According to the most recent Home Staging Association UK industry report and RESA consumer data, professionally staged properties sell for an average of 8–10% more than equivalent unstaged homes, and spend on average 73% less time on the market.

Those two numbers compound. A faster sale means fewer price reductions, fewer mortgage offers expiring, less risk of a chain collapsing — and meaningfully lower carrying costs (council tax, mortgage interest, insurance, utilities) while the property is on the market.

A worked example: the £400,000 home

Consider a typical UK seller listing a £400,000 home. At the lower end of the research (an 8% uplift), professional staging could add £32,000 to the final sale price. At the upper end (10%), the uplift is closer to £40,000.

Even after the cost of staging — which for most UK properties sits in the low single-digit thousands — the return on investment is, in most cases, more than ten-fold. Few decisions in a property sale come close.

Why staging works for UK buyers

More than nine in ten UK buyers begin their property search online, and the listing photograph is the single biggest determinant of whether they click through. Staged homes simply photograph better — wider perceived rooms, clearer purpose for each space, warmer light, and an aspirational lifestyle attached to the floor plan.

In viewings, staging removes the friction of imagination. Buyers don't have to picture how the lounge could be laid out, or whether the third bedroom could be a study. They see it, and they emotionally move in. Emotional buyers offer faster, and they offer higher.

When staging delivers the biggest ROI

• Properties sitting empty or recently vacated.
• Homes where the décor is dated, very personal, or skews to one taste.
• New-build show homes and developer plots.
• Higher-value properties (£500k+) where a 1% swing is meaningful in pounds.
• Competitive markets where multiple similar homes are listed at once.

What to look for in a UK home stager

Accreditation matters. Look for HSA UK or RESA membership, full public liability insurance, a clear fixed-price quote (not hourly), and a portfolio of recent sold-listing photography in your region. Beware of stagers who quote sight unseen, or who can't tell you which estate agents they work with.

How HÓMA approaches home staging

HÓMA Move pairs you with an accredited UK home stager, manages the brief end-to-end, and confirms a fixed price before any work begins. Staging is one of five services in the HÓMA Move sequence — alongside organise-to-move, furnish, move-in clean, and new-build snag survey — so you can take a single service or the full journey from listing to first morning in your new home.