FOR all the jokes about the rivalry between Glasgow and Edinburgh, the two cities are very different, and that includes the approach to home ownership and the way people view property.

A new survey has found that while Edinburgh homeowners are happy to boast of their home extensions, Glaswegians taking their homes to market will proudly cite their solar panels as a good reason to buy their houses.

With many property owners carrying out renovations of their homes, Safestore has carried out research to find out some of the more popular features in Glasgow, Edinburgh and other cities in the UK, with a view to indicating to homeowners what they can install to make their home more marketable in the future.

The firm said: “We’ve found that the proportion of property listings in Glasgow detailing ‘solar panels’ is five times higher than the UK average.

“This could be partly due to the Government-backed initiative that assisted the funding of solar panels in Scotland up until 2010, but shows that Glasgow is ahead of the trend when it comes to the environment.”

Perhaps it’s the big move-on from the days of the ‘single end’ but Glasgow owners also know the value of additional bedrooms in their homes.

As well as the popularity of various features, Safestore also looked into the basic value of having more bedrooms in the home.

They found that property prices in Glasgow, on average, rise by 47% for every additional bedroom, with the most lucrative upgrade found between three and four bedrooms where the value rises by 70%.

In Edinburgh, by contrast, it seems that extensions to a house are the factors cited by most sellers as important.

Safestore said: “In the Scottish capital, there are a higher percentage of properties for sale that advertise an extension at 17% than any other city in our research.”

Other suggestions of trends in Edinburgh include a higher number of open-plan properties at 32% .

The capital also has a high number of refurbished homes at 8%.

In Edinburgh, as well, having an additional bedroom can add significant value to a home, and having two bedrooms instead of one increases the sale price by 42% on average.

Safestore added: “In an often unpredictable housing market, a reported 15% of homeowners are opting to improve their property as opposed to upping sticks.

“As well as creating nicer surroundings, refurbishing different areas of a home can add significant value.”