NOT so long ago, laminate flooring was considered the next best thing to Victorian floorboards, and eager first time buyers, veteran property investors and habitual DIY-ers lapped up the cheap alternative like a frenzied swarm of jigsaw buffs.

But lets face it, wood chip wallpaper was also something in its hey day and like its unfashionably freaky friend, slot together flooring is losing its appeal.

The problem is, just as the former clings desperately to its home, it is also a pain to dismantle from under skirting boards - although it might be worth a bit of hard labour.

According to a new TV show - yes, another one - you can expect around £2,000 to be knocked off the value of you home if it is clad with laminate and a few other no-no's could lose you up to a whopping £250,000.

Ways of devaluing your home, as shown on Five's 20 Quickest Ways to Lose Money on Your Property, include, perhaps not surprisingly, features such as an avocado bathroom suite, stone cladding and the smell of pets and smoke.

However, it might come as a surprise to know even a householder with an outdoor swimming pool, a smattering of humorous gnomes and pine furniture could expect a cool £35K to be slashed off the price of their abode.

You can't do much about this one - although fair play, you could have a go - but even nightmare neighbours can apparently lose you more than seven grand.

Other property blunders such as dodgy DIY, bad extensions and overgrown gardens are also causing problems but, according to the show, the best way to prevent selling a home is not dealing with structural disasters, which could reduce the value by £100,000.

Lisa Westmacott, who does up houses to sell on, took some of these points on board when she bought a house in Malvern for £74,000 and ended up making a profit of £64,000 in 10 months by fixing eyesores and "laying off the fags".

"When I bought the house, it was horrific, really 70s with squirly woodchip wallpaper, and even though it was empty, it still had a stairlift and tights hanging up in the kitchen," she said.

"There were ill-matching carpets, it looked like it hadn't been maintained in any way and I had to really look through all this.

"Structurally, I was lucky, there was a small amount of damp, which scares people off but it isn't actually as expensive to fix as people imagine.

"We completely refurbished the kitchen and turquoise bathroom, which are the main selling points and although we smoked in the house while the building work was going on, we went outside as soon as the furnishings started to arrive.

Going neutral also never seems to go out of fashion when it comes to providing prospective buyers with a blank canvas on which they can superimpose their own furnishings.

"I tried not to impose any of my personality as you are selling an idea," she said.

"My main advice is to keep your house clean and totally clutter free - oh, and try and get on with your neighbours and be considerate, especially if they are having to live next to a building site."

SUPERMARKET chain Tesco may have to label products in its healthy-eating range high in salt, sugar and fat, it has emerged.

The company announced in May it was planning to trial a "traffic lights" labelling system this September to give customers more nutritional advice.

But research by The Food Commission suggests some products in Tesco's Healthy Living range are unhealthier than the chain initially believed and will have to carry either amber or red lights.