Which will add more value - a conservatory or attic conversion?

Our SSIA is maturing at the end of this month and we will be spending it on home improvements. We are torn between a conservatory and an attic conversion, my husband wants one, I want the other. Ours is a three-bedroom semi built in the 1970s. We have two children so don't really need an extra bedroom. Which would add the most value to our home?

I take it you mean value on the open market - but are you selling your house any time soon? It doesn't sound as though that is part of the plan. What you need to consider is the "value" of the extra space to how you live.

Make a list of the pros (there won't be too many cons) of each room and think laterally. For example, if you can afford to build a conservatory with a tiled roof and heating, then you will be gaining a room that has all-round useability - it could become a new breakfastroom or a sunny livingroom.

A glass/Perspex roofed conservatory has more limited year-round use as they get very cold in winter. On the other hand, an attic doesn't have to be a bedroom - it could be a teenage den or, better still, put an en suite and a bedroom up there and you and your husband can have a space to yourselves.

With the trend being for children to stay at home well into their 20s you might want a place to retreat to! Think of this as an investment in how you enjoy the house.

Neighbours are complaining about my noisy tenants

Earlier this year I bought a second property and let out my apartment. The whole experience has been very difficult.

I am managing the letting myself and several residents in the block have complained to me directly about noise, parties and verbal abuse from my tenants. This is embarrassing and I am concerned about what other damage they might be doing.

When I asked the tenants to keep it down, they said it's their home and they pay the rent. Friends have advised a solicitor's letter. Would this be the best course?

We're a great little country for firing off solicitor's letters - and recourse to law has its place - but there are mediation mechanisms.

You will, I am sure, have registered your tenancy with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (www.prtb.ie), as this is required of the vast majority of landlords. This is the agency set up to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants and which operates a national tenancy registration.

The board has a very good sample letter that you could send to your tenants (known as the "letter required by the PRTB to be issued by a landlord to the tenants in the case of a complaint by a third party of landlord failure to enforce the tenant obligation not to engage in anti-social behaviour").

This lays out clearly your tenants' obligations and your right to terminate the tenancy. Consult the website for details.

Send your queries to Property Questions, The Irish Times, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie .

Unfortunately, it is not possible to respond to all questions. The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.