Home improvers of Great Britain 2016 - Barbour ABI | … householders moving on or sprucing up? A...

Are householders moving on or sprucing up? A look at the trends in planning activity for households across the country

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Britain’s Home Improvers REPORT 2016

Hinderton Point, Lloyd Drive, Cheshire Oaks, Cheshire, CH65 9HQT: 0151 353 3500E: [email protected]: www.barbour-abi.com

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Where are homeowners likely to dig deep into their

pockets to shell out on home improvement projects

and what might influence their decision? Well, we can

get some big indications from looking at the local

authorities that come top of the Barbour ABI Home

Improvers lists.

Barbour ABI captures data on all planning

applications made across Britain. Using this data

we can see where, in relation to the size of the

housing stock, most of the more substantial home

improvement takes place. Linking this to other

sources then gives us a better insight into what

factors make households in some places more likely

to invest in improving their home.

The first thing you will notice glimpsing the local

authorities topping the tables is that there is a higher

level of home improvement in areas where homes

tend to be more expensive.

It’s not just high house prices that drive home

improvement activity. While house prices in an area

will be a big factor, in each region and each borough

there will be differences in what prompts home

owners to improve their homes rather than move, or

buy and do up rather than buy a different home that

better fits their needs and aspirations.

Naturally, too, the health of the economy will play a

part in the confidence of those considering putting

their hands in their pockets to splash out on a major

investment in their home.

So, armed with the rankings of home improvers

nationally and regionally, plus an array of different

data, we’ve sought to establish some of the factors that

are likely to encourage home improvement activity.

The economyAll the data shows that home improvement activity

shifts with changes in the economy. If we follow

the dotted trend line in Fig. 1.1 for number of home

improvement applications, it is clear there is a strong

link. Applications dropped with the recession and

rose with the recovery, even taking a slight dip after

the economic recovery weakened in 2011 and 2012.

But recessions hit some people harder than others

and this can alter the pattern of home improvement

across the nation. For instance, closer examination of

the Barbour ABI data indicates that it slowed among

those with income more than those with wealth.

This meant those in employment were more likely to

hold back than those in or near retirement. So it was

the South West, a traditional retirement destination,

where the home improver market suffered less than

many other parts of Britain.

One indicator of how the economy influences home

improvement projects is to look at another big-ticket

expense for households, such as a car. And Fig. 1.2

shows how car sales and home improvement rise

and fall similarly. Economists will tell you that work

on home improvement tends to follow car sales

by about nine months. So it provides a neat early

warning indicator.

OVERVIEW…

What drives home improvement?

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

Priv

ate

hous

ing

RMI (

£m)

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 20150

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Thousands of new car registrations

60

70

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90

100

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130

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rter

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over

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Dec07

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Dec09

Dec10

Dec11

Dec12

Dec13

Dec14

Dec15

390

400

410

420

430

440

450

460

Quarterly GDP (£bn)

Applications quarterly moving average

FIG 1.2

Car sales and contracted-out housing repair, maintenance and improvementSource: ONS, SMMT

FIG 1.1

GDP and home improvement planning applicationsSource: Barbour ABI, ONS

Location is one of the big factors in the levels of home improvement

The health of the economy will play a part in the confidence of those considering home improvements

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Overview


House pricesIn Fig. 1.3 we plotted the average number of home

improvement applications for every 100 private

homes in each of Britain’s local authorities over three

years against the median house price. It seems pretty

conclusive that there is a strong link.

But look at the data regionally and the relationship

varies in strength from region to region. It is very strong

in Yorkshire & Humber and in the North East, but much

weaker in the South West, Wales and Scotland.

Why this is the case is not clear from the data. There

will be a number of factors at play. Certainly we

might reasonably speculate, at least for the South

West and Wales, that one reason for the weaker link

might be the high number of second homes. This

could moderate the relationship between home

improvement and house prices.

The key point, though, is that house prices in most

places have a significant bearing on how much larger

scale home improvement is undertaken.

TransactionsThe link between the number of sales of private

homes and the money spent on renovating homes

is generally accepted among economists who

track construction. Finding good data to back it

up isn’t that easy. But we can see when comparing

transactions with the official figures for work done by

contractors on private housing repair, maintenance

and improvement (Fig. 1.4) that the two follow a

similar path.

This isn’t proof of any causal link, but it supports the

idea that the more sales of homes the more home

improvement. And when we compare home sales

with home improvement planning applications

for local authorities across England and Wales

(see Fig. 1.5) it shows a tendency for more home

improvement activity in local authorities with

proportionately more home sales.

However, when we look more at the relationship

regionally we see fairly weak links. In some regions,

mainly in the north of England, we see only a modest

link in some regions between home sales and home

improvement applications. There are signs of a

moderate relationship in the northern regions of

England. But in London, the South East and South

West, there seems to be no discernible correlation.

And if we separately plot for Scotland there is again

no apparent link.

CONTINUED… What drives home improvement?

0 2 4 6 80

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

Med

ian

hous

e pr

ice

(£’0

00)

Home improvement applications per 100 private homes

10,000

12,000

14,000

16,000

18,000

20,000

22,000

Priv

ate

hous

ing

RMI (

£’00

0)

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 20150

400

800

1,200

1,600

2,000

Thousands of transactions (England & Wales only) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

2

3

4

5

6

7

Resid

entia

l tra

nsac

tions

per

100

priv

ate

hom

es


FIG 1.4

Home sales and private housing repair, maintenance and improvementSource: ONS, HMRC

FIG 1.5

Home improvements and volume of house sales by local authority(England & Wales only). Source: Barbour ABI, HMRC, DCLG

FIG 1.3

Home improvements and house prices by local authoritySource: Barbour ABI, ONS, DCLG

One reason for the weaker link between house prices and home improvement, in the South West and Wales, might be the high number of second homes

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IncomeHome improvement tends to be expensive. So it’s no

surprise to find a strong relationship between average

earnings and the level of home improvement.

Over the past 10 years the top 20% of households

on the income scale have spent about 14 times the

amount on home improvements than the bottom

20%, according to the Office for National Statistics on

family spending (Fig. 1.6).

Fig. 1.7 plots the Barbour ABI home improvement

applications numbers for each local authority

against average income shows. It illustrates the

strong relationship.

This is no surprise as income will tend to determine

average house prices, so we’d expect to see similar

patterns. Interestingly though, finer regional analysis

shows a much weaker link in the South West, Scotland

and Wales. The link appeared stronger in the South

East and London. Interestingly, there was a similar

strong link between home improvement and income

in the North East as there was when comparing home

improvement activity and house prices.

PlanningDo people turn to home improvement more in areas

where planning for new homes is tougher to win?

Well, the data seems to suggest so. Using detailed

planning data we can measure the proportion of

applications rejected or withdrawn. This provides a

rough-and-ready measure of planning rigidity for each

local authority.

When we look at the national picture (Fig. 1.8) it

seems that there is a link between it being tougher

to get permission for new homes and more home

improvement. This doesn’t mean there’s a causal link.

It could well be that well-to-do people are both more

prone to improving their homes and also more averse

to new homes being built near them.

As with other factors, the impact of planning rigidity

seems to vary region to region. In London, Scotland,

the South West and North West, the correlation

between planning rigidity and home improvement

applications is negligible. The strongest relationship

seems to be in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber

and the West Midlands.


0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 80

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Mea

n in

com

e (£

’000

)


FIG 1.7

Home improvements and average income by local authoritySource: Barbour ABI, ONS, DCLG

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 80

10

20

30

40

50

60

Plan

ning

rigi

dity

inde

x


FIG 1.8

Housing improvements and planning rigidity by local authoritySource: Barbour ABI, DCLG

Data seems to suggest that people turn to home improvement when planning applications for new homes are difficult to get approved

There is a stronger link to income in the South East and London, compared to the South West, Scotland and Wales

54%

21.2%

12.6%

8.5%3.8%

FIG 1.6

Proportion of family spending on contracted-out home improvements by households, by incomeSource: ONS

Highest 20%

Second 20%

Third 20%

Fourth 20%

Lowest 20%

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Rural or urban?The most active locations for home improvement

are currently in London. But does an urban or

a rural setting influence the likelihood of the

owner submitting a home improvement planning

application?

We tested this nationally and regionally. If we look

nationally the urban-rural split doesn’t seem to make

much difference. But if we look within regions, we

see a different pattern emerging. Obviously leaving

out London, for many regions it seems rural areas are

far more likely to be hot spots of home improvement

activity than more urban locations.

Age profileCan you look at the age profile of an area and judge

whether it’s prime for home improvement work? The

answer is not that straightforward, but there are clues.

The Office for National Statistics produce family

expenditure figures that show how much different

households spend on home improvement. Fig. 1.9,

unsurprisingly, shows that it is the 65-74 age category

that have the highest average weekly spend on

home improvement.

Coming out of the recession those aged between

50 and retirement have spent more heavily on

home improvement. And we’ve seen an increase in

spending of those in retirement. This could of course

be in part down to the aging profile of home owners.

Nationally there’s little evidence that age profile

of a local authority makes a huge difference to the

level of home improvement planning applications.

Adversely, in Scotland the South West and the West

Midlands those boroughs with higher proportions of

people between 50 and retirement appear to receive

proportionately greater levels of home improvement

planning applications.

KidsAre you more likely to see home improvement in areas

where there are more homes with kids? That’s a very

different question and oddly the answer seems to be

no. That is if we look at where planning applications

are made. Fig. 1.10 shows the average annual spend

over five years from 2010 to 2014.

Looking at the areas where home improvement

planning applications are most prevalent suggests,

if anything, that there’s more chance of home

improvement in an area where there are more homes

without children, especially in Scotland, the South

West and Yorkshire and Humber. Even when we adjust

for different types of location it seems that home

improvement is more prevalent where there are more

homes without children.


0 5 10 15 20 25 30

75 or over

65 to 74

50 to 64

30 to 49

Under 30

Average weekly spend (£)

2005 to 20092010 to 2014

FIG 1.9

Changing pattern of spending on contracted-out home improvement work by ageSource: ONS

0 500 1000 1500

Retired one person

Retired two adults

Non-retired one person

One adult with children

Two adults with children

Three+ adults with children

Non-retired two adults

Average annual spend (£)

FIG 1.10

Average annual spend (£) by household typeSource: ONS

With the exception of London, rural areas are more likely to be hot spots of

home improvement activity

Nationally there’s little evidence that age profile of a local authority makes a huge difference to the level of home improvement planning applications

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London and the southern regions of Britain continue

to dominate the Barbour ABI national home

improvement league, but the pattern is changing as

investment in refurbishing homes spreads from prime

central London to outer London boroughs, into the

wealthier commuter towns and further afield.

Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster still sat atop

the 2015 table of local authorities when it came to the

number of home improvement planning applications

received for every 100 private homes in the borough.

Despite a slight decrease in 2015, for every 100

homes in Kensington & Chelsea there were 7.3 home

improvement applications, more than three times the

national average and twice the average for London.

In total, almost 5,000 planning applications for home

improvements were submitted to the borough last

year, double the number in 2010.

But even for those outside London there’s plenty to

smile about. Across Britain as a whole there was a

steady rise in the number of applications for home

improvement in 2015 and the signs are for further

increases in the coming year.

Fig. 2.1 shows the monthly level of home

improvement applications in Britain and the path is

clearly up as the recession recedes.

Barbour ABI’s home-improver analysis supports

findings a year ago that the rising tide of home-

improvement planning applications is spreading

rapidly from central London.

This year’s biggest riser was Cambridge, which last

year was 69th in the Barbour ABI home-improver

capital of Britain table last year, leaping to 7th.

Demand for homes in the city has risen sharply and

with limited supply there was a 14.4% rise in prices in

2015, according to Hometrack’s 20-City Index. That

was a bigger rise than in any other major UK city,

including London. This appears to be a major factor in

leading homeowners and buyers in the city to turn to

home improvement.

The local authorities in London, the South East and

East of England continue to dominate the Top 25 in

this year’s national table.

The picturesque retirement locations of Devon, such

as South Hams that through the recession acted

as a beacon for home-improving affluent greys, no

longer feature in the Top 25, as spending on home

improvement seems to be shifting from equity-rich

downsizers to high earners. The only South West

district to feature in the top 50 is Cotswold, which now

sits top in the region’s home-improvers table. And you

have to look down the list to number 74 before you

see Harrogate, the highest ranked northern borough.

Ironically, perhaps, many of the areas where housing

may need most investment are those where home

improvement is least prevalent. It is the poorer more

urban areas of Blackpool and Stoke that prop up the

bottom of the table in close company with plenty

of Scottish districts. The chances of a planning

application being submitted for a private house in

Kensington & Chelsea is almost 18 times more than in

Blackpool or Stoke.

It is not just the increase in planning applications

that says home improvement is on the up. The

latest Office for National Statistics Family Spending

survey suggests that the average annual spend by

households on altering and improving their homes

was about £1,080 in 2014 up from about £920 in 2013.

This means that the nation spent, on the basis of

these figures, about £33 billion in 2014 on housing

alterations and improvements.

That said, the spread spending on home improvements

and alterations is far from even. The average spend in

London is about three and a half times that spent by the

average household in the North East.

DISTRICT OVERVIEW…

Which districts top the national table?

0

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Mon

thly

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Dec07

Dec08

Dec09

Dec10

Dec11

Dec12

Dec13

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Applications 12 month moving average

FIG 2.1

Monthly home-improver planning applications and 12 month moving averageSource: Barbour ABI

CLICK TO VIEWTop & bottom 25 districts

TOP25

The chances of a planning application being submitted for a private house in Kensington & Chelsea is almost 18

times more than in Blackpool or Stoke

In 2014, the nation spent about £33 billion on housing alterations and improvements, with London, the South East and East of England dominating

INCREASES

Yearly moving average

The 12 month moving average shows that the path is clearly up as the

recession recedes

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Districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

Districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

Rank District Region 2013 2014 2015 Growth (%)*

25 Wirral NW 0.7 0.8 0.8 7

24 Nuneaton and Bedworth WM 0.7 0.7 0.8 15

23 Wolverhampton WM 0.6 0.6 0.8 28

22 Knowsley NW 0.7 0.9 0.8 -2

21 Halton NW 0.6 0.9 0.8 1

20 Tameside NW 0.8 0.9 0.8 -6

19 Burnley NW 0.5 0.6 0.8 37

18 Rossendale NW 0.8 0.6 0.7 13

17 West Lothian SC 0.7 0.8 0.7 -5

16 Rotherham YH 0.8 0.7 0.7 -3

15 Kingston upon Hull YH 0.5 0.6 0.7 29

14 Renfrewshire SC 0.6 0.6 0.7 15

13 Inverclyde SC 0.7 0.7 0.7 -4

12 Barnsley YH 0.7 0.7 0.7 -2

11 Wigan NW 0.7 0.7 0.7 5

10 Falkirk SC 0.7 0.8 0.7 -6

9 Hyndburn NW 0.9 0.8 0.7 -16

8 North Lanarkshire SC 0.7 0.6 0.7 6

7 Dundee SC 0.6 0.6 0.6 3

6 North Ayrshire SC 0.7 0.7 0.6 -11

5 Glasgow SC 0.6 0.6 0.6 3

4 Redditch WM 0.4 0.3 0.5 41

3 West Dunbartonshire SC 0.6 0.6 0.5 -18

2 Stoke on Trent WM 0.5 0.6 0.5 -18

★ Blackpool NW 0.4 0.4 0.4 -1

*2015 compared with average of 2013 and 2014 Source: Barbour ABI, ONS

Rank District Region 2013 2014 2015 Growth (%)*

★ Kensington and Chelsea LN 7.3 7.5 7.3 -1

2 Westminster LN 6.6 6.8 6.2 -7

3 Uttlesford EE 5.4 5.8 6.1 9

4 Hammersmith and Fulham LN 5.7 6.3 6.1 1

5 South Bucks SE 5.2 5.6 6.0 10

6 Richmond upon Thames LN 4.9 5.7 5.9 11

7 Cambridge EE 2.5 2.8 5.8 119

8 Elmbridge SE 4.7 5.5 5.7 11

9 Sevenoaks SE 5.1 5.6 5.6 4

10 St Albans EE 4.8 4.7 5.2 11

11 South Northamptonshire EM 3.1 4.3 5.1 39

12 Chichester SE 4.6 4.5 5.1 12

13 Guildford SE 3.5 4.6 5.0 22

14 Harrow LN 3.2 4.0 4.9 36

15 Chiltern SE 4.2 4.2 4.7 11

16 Barnet LN 3.5 4.2 4.7 21

17 Hounslow LN 3.4 4.1 4.5 22

18 East Hampshire SE 4.0 3.6 4.5 17

19 Tunbridge Wells SE 4.6 4.0 4.5 4

20 Oxford SE 3.9 4.3 4.4 8

21 Kingston upon Thames LN 3.2 3.8 4.4 25

22 Brent LN 3.1 4.0 4.3 23

23 Hertsmere EE 3.5 3.8 4.3 17

24 Redbridge LN 3.0 3.9 4.3 27

25 Lambeth LN 3.4 4.3 4.3 11


BOTTOM

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It’s hard to compare home improvement activity regionally

within Britain without immediately turning to London as the

benchmark. It dominates the home improver market and

continues to stretch its lead in 2015.

This is not surprising. It has huge demand for housing,

with a limited stock of new homes, high and fast rising

house prices and a large proportion of the richest people

in Britain.

What’s more interesting about London right now is just

how fast the home improvement boom in central London

is expanding to the outer boroughs. However the scorching

hot home improver district of Kensington & Chelsea and

Westminster still remain singularly hot.

The growth, though, is now coming from the outer

boroughs such as Harrow, which saw a leap of a third in

home improver planning applications in 2015 compared to

the average over the previous two years.

Scotland aside, the spread is occurring throughout Britain.

Unsurprisingly the East of England is seeing a surge, up 14%.

But so is Wales, which has seen a rise of more than 12%

comparing 2015 levels with the previous two years.

REGION OVERVIEW…

How do the regions and countries of Britain compare?

Rank Region/Country 2013 2014 2015 Growth (%)*

★ London 3.0 3.5 3.8 16

2 South East 2.4 2.6 2.7 10

3 East of England 2.1 2.2 2.5 14

4 South West 1.9 2.0 2.0 7

5 East Midlands 1.3 1.4 1.5 12

6 Yorkshire & Humber 1.3 1.3 1.4 8

7 West Midlands 1.2 1.2 1.4 11

8 North West 1.1 1.2 1.2 8

9 Wales 1.0 1.1 1.2 12

10 North East 1.0 1.1 1.1 5

11 Scotland 1.1 1.1 1.1 -2

England 1.6 1.6 1.9 17

Great Britain 1.8 1.8 1.9 5


Home improvement across Britain’s regions and countriesNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

16

GROWTH INLondon outer boroughs

The London borough of Harrow saw a leap of a third in

applications in 2015

STRENGTH NEARLondon

Home improvement is growing stronger in the regions nearest

to London

Not surprisingly, London dominates the home improver market and continues

to stretch its lead in 2015

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Region comparison


Uttlesford, the north Essex local authority that takes in

Saffron Walden, Stansted, Thaxted and Great Dunmow,

continues to hold the top spot in the Barbour ABI Home

Improvement league table for the East of England. But the

big story this year is how Cambridge shot into second place.

Cambridge leapt from well outside the national top 50

for home improvement in 2014 to 7th in 2015, as planning

applications more than doubled. Undoubtedly a big prompt

pushing homeowners to invest in home improvement was

the rapid rise in demand for houses seen in and around

Cambridge over the past few years. Last year prices

rocketed 14.4%, putting Cambridge top of the Hometrack

20-City Composite Index and knocking London into

second place.

While Cambridge provided icing on the cake for local

builders, the region continues to provide rich pickings.

There was a 14% jump in 2015 in home improvement

planning applications in the East of England compared with

the average over the previous two years. Outside London

this was the biggest increase.

There were more than 53,000 applications made in

the region, which comes in at about 2.5 for every 100

privately-owned homes, ranking the region third after

London and the South East.

The Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey

suggests that households in the East of England on average

spent across 2013 and 2014 almost £1,300 a year altering

and improving their homes. That totals to about £3.2 billion

spent in the region.

Research using Barbour ABI data shows that homeowners’

incomes is a big driver of home improvement in the region. It

also suggests that where planning for new homes is hard to

come by there’s greater appetite among owners to alter or

improve their homes.

Another clue to finding budding home improvers in the

region is to look more to rural than urban areas, as on

balance there are more planning applications made for

every 100 homes in rural areas than in the bigger towns

and cities.

FOCUS ON…

East of England

East of England districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

Rank District 2013 2014 2015 Growth (%)*

★ Uttlesford 5.4 5.8 6.1 9

2 Cambridge 2.5 2.8 5.8 119

3 St Albans 4.8 4.7 5.2 11

4 Hertsmere 3.5 3.8 4.3 17

5 Three Rivers 3.5 3.9 4.2 12

6 Brentwood 3.3 3.5 3.9 16

7 Epping Forest 3.2 3.6 3.9 14

8 Welwyn Hatfield 3.4 3.7 3.5 -1

9 Watford 2.1 3.2 3.5 31

10 North Hertfordshire 2.7 3.1 3.4 18


119made in the region for

home improvement

MORE THAN

APPLICATIONS

IS ON THE UP

53,000

Cambridge

leaping from well outside the national top 50 districts

for home improvement in 2014 to 7th in 2015

TOP10

Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost £1,300 a year altering and improving their homes

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East of England


South Northamptonshire, centred on Towcester, held its

place at the top of the East Midlands home improvement

league, as planning applications in the borough soared for a

second year in 2015.

For every 100 homeowners in the borough more than five

put in a planning application for home improvement in 2015.

In 2013 it was just over three.

The fact that South Northamptonshire borough tops the

league should be no surprise, given its healthy stock of

wealthy executive types and flourishing families. For the

past two years income has increasingly become the driver of

home improvements, rather than the equity of more elderly

homeowners and downsizers as it was during the recession.

Over the past two years home improvement activity has

steadily increased, with the more affluent districts boosting

the overall numbers of planning applications in the region to

almost 26,000, more than a 12% rise in 2015 compared with

the average over the previous two years.

Despite increasing numbers of planning applications, with

an average of 1.5 made for every 100 private homes, the East

Midlands remains below the average across Britain of 2.0.

Looking at what drives home improvement in the East

Midlands, the evidence from Barbour ABI research seems

to point to three main factors in the region – income is

the biggest home improvement driver, secondly areas

where the proportion of homeowners are over 50 are likely

to see more applications and finally we are seeing more

applications in rural locations than in the larger urban areas.

Certainly this pattern is clear from the boroughs at the top

of the pile in the region. And it helps explain why boroughs

such as Mansfield, Derby and Corby take the bottom three

places in the regional table.

Looking at the amount spent by homeowners in the

region, the Office for National Statistics Family Spending

survey suggests they spent an average of about £2.1 billion

annually on home improvements over 2013 and 2014. This

averages out at almost £1,100 a year per household on

altering and improving their homes. That’s about on a par

with the national average.

FOCUS ON…

East Midlands


★ South Northamptonshire 3.1 4.3 5.1 39

2 Rutland 3.4 3.9 3.6 -1

3 Harborough 2.5 2.6 2.9 16

4 Rushcliffe 2.3 2.5 2.6 8

5 East Northamptonshire 1.9 2.2 2.3 9

6 Daventry 1.9 2.0 2.0 4

7 Melton 1.8 2.0 2.0 5

8 North East Derbyshire 1.6 1.6 1.9 17

9 South Kesteven 1.8 1.8 1.9 5

10 Charnwood 1.6 1.8 1.7 2


East Midlands districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

39

TOP10

We see more applications in rural locations than in the larger urban

areas in the region

MORE THAN

DOMINANTION IN

RISE IN 201512%

rural locations

applications made for home improvement compared

with the previous two years


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London continued to dominate the Barbour ABI rankings

for home improvement planning applications in 2015

with another jump in numbers over the year. That rise was

despite a slight slowdown in the top London boroughs of

Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.

There are clear signs that the massive home improvement

bug that bit the capital is spreading. Homeowners in

London were on average in 2015 almost twice as likely to put

in an application to improve their home as those in the rest

of Britain.

There were almost 100,000 applications submitted

to London planning authorities last year for home

improvements, a rise of more than 50% since 2012.

Kensington & Chelsea once again topped the league table

both for London and Britain, with more than seven in every

100 homeowners in the borough submitting an application

to improve their home.

The driver behind this upward trend in home improvement

in London is not surprising. With land values booming, the

economics of spending on enhancing and expanding an

existing home can be compelling. Add in the fact that there

is no shortage of people with sufficient wealth, income or

both to invest.

With prices having risen strongly across all London, the

boom in home improvement has spread from central

London boroughs outward. The fastest growth is now in the

outer boroughs. This year we saw Lambeth fall out of the top

10 and Redbridge sneak a place.

Generally speaking in London, as across most of the

country, we find high proportions of home improvement

planning applications where average earnings are highest.

It is not surprising to see Barking and Dagenham, where

average incomes are relatively low, propping up the table

for the capital. But the hunger for housing in London is

great and buyers are looking further afield to buy. The

opportunity to buy-and-do-up in previously less desirable

areas appears to be increasingly attractive. So we should

expect to see the outward spread of rising house prices

prompting increasing home improvement activity in the

outer boroughs.


suggests that the total spend by households annually on

home improvements averaged £6.2 billion over 2013 and

2014. This means an annual average spend of about £1,900

a year per household, if we include those renting, on altering

and improving their homes.

FOCUS ON…

London


★ Kensington and Chelsea 7.3 7.5 7.3 -1

2 Westminster 6.6 6.8 6.2 -7

3 Hammersmith and Fulham 5.7 6.3 6.1 1

4 Richmond upon Thames 4.9 5.7 5.9 11

5 Harrow 3.2 4.0 4.9 36

6 Barnet 3.5 4.2 4.7 21

7 Hounslow 3.4 4.1 4.5 22

8 Kingston upon Thames 3.2 3.8 4.4 25

9 Brent 3.1 4.0 4.3 23

10 Redbridge 3.0 3.9 4.3 27


London districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

36

TOP10

submitted to London planning authorities last year for home improvements. Up 50% since 2012

ALMOST

APPLICATIONS100,000

INCREASE

Outer boroughs

London’s boom in home improvement has spread

from the central to the outer boroughs


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London


The district of Northumberland once again tops the list of

boroughs in the Barbour ABI home improvement league for

the North East.

In 2015 the North East region saw 5% growth in the number

of planning applications made for home improvement

compared with the average over the previous two years.

This growth was less than across Britain as a whole putting

the region yet further behind the national average when

it comes to the likelihood of homeowners submitting a

planning application for home improvement.

The average number of planning applications for home

improvements in 2015 across Britain was two for every 100

private homes. The top of the improvers table in the North

East, Northumberland, came in at 1.5, while Sunderland was

at the bottom of the regional table saw roughly half that.

There is a strong link across Britain between the level of

home improvements, average earnings and rising house

prices. So the pattern we see in the North East should be

expected, with average earnings in the North East well

below the national average.

Within the region this pattern broadly holds.

Northumberland and Newcastle, which top the table, both

are at the top end for average earnings in the region and are

among the districts with the highest average house prices.

Interestingly, Durham, which does have a high number of

affluent residents, saw the fastest growth in the number of

home improvement planning applications in 2015 for the

North East.

One further factor having an influence in the region is that

where planning for homes is tougher, as measured using

Barbour ABI data, there is likely to be more applications for

home improvements.

The level of overall spending on home improvements in the

region is still running well below the amount spent in the

years immediately before the recession. Households on

average in the North East spent about £550 million on home

improvements annually across 2013 and 2014, according to

the Office of National Statistics Family Spending survey.

FOCUS ON…

North East


★ Northumberland 1.4 1.5 1.5 5

2 Newcastle upon Tyne 1.3 1.3 1.3 3

3 North Tyneside 1.1 1.2 1.3 18

4 South Tyneside 1.1 1.1 1.2 7

5 Stockton-on-Tees 1.2 1.1 1.1 -4

6 Darlington 1.1 1.1 1.0 -7

7 Durham 0.7 0.9 1.0 28

8 Hartlepool 0.9 1.1 1.0 -1

9 Middlesbrough 0.9 1.0 0.9 -1

10 Redcar and Cleveland 1.0 0.9 0.9 -5


North East districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

28

TOP10

for where home improvement happens in the North East

NATIONAL AVERAGE

IS A BIG FACTOR

Further behind

Average earnings

Despite a rise in home improvement planning applications the

North East fell further behind the national average in 2015

Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost £550 a year altering and improving their homes

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The Trafford district of Greater Manchester held its place as

the home improvement capital of the North West for 2015

having seen a surge in planning applications over the past

two years, according to the latest Barbour ABI analysis.

The boroughs in the region where homeowners

proportionately submit more planning applications for

home improvement do tend to be those where average

incomes are higher, although this relationship is perhaps

less strong in the North West than in the rest of Britain.

What is particularly interesting this year is how far the

emphasis for home improvements has shifted away from

the rural idylls, boroughs such as Ribble Valley and Eden,

which dominated the listings in previous years.

The pretty retirement homes and second-home hotspots

still rank high in the home improvement tables, but the

greatest growth appears to be in the old industrial towns of

the North West. While they may not feature in the region’s

top 10, the boroughs that have seen the fastest growth in

applications for home improvement over the past year are

Preston, Burnley and Salford.

At the bottom of the list of districts for home improvements

we once again find Blackpool. Here we also find the lowest

average earnings in the region. There may be much talk of

seaside towns being spruced up in the south of England, but

across most of the country coastal boroughs seem to be

nearer the bottom than the top of the home improvement

list of hotspots. In Blackpool last year there was just one

application made for home improvements for every 250

private homes. That was the lowest rate in Britain.

The North West in 2015 saw an average number of home

improvement applications received for every 100 private

homes of a shade above 1.2, well below the average of 2.0

across Britain. The total for the region was almost 32,000

in 2015.

The average spend per household is lower than the national

average too. The Office for National Statistics Family

Spending survey suggests that the average household in

2013 and 2014, including renters, spent about £850 annually

on home improvements against a UK average of more than

£1,100. That makes the market for home improvements in

the North West worth about £2.6 billion.

FOCUS ON…

North West


★ Trafford 2.0 2.0 2.1 8

2 Cheshire West and Chester 1.7 1.9 1.9 9

3 Ribble Valley 2.2 1.8 1.9 -4

4 Eden 1.7 1.8 1.9 6

5 Cheshire East 1.8 1.8 1.8 -2

6 West Lancashire 1.8 1.9 1.7 -4

7 Warrington 1.3 1.4 1.7 25

8 Stockport 1.4 1.5 1.7 17

9 Lancaster 1.3 1.4 1.6 22

10 Chorley 1.4 1.5 1.6 9


North West districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

25

TOP10

made in the region for home improvement

ALMOST

APPLICATIONS

GROWTH IN

32,000

industrial townsThe greatest growth appears to have shifted

to the old industrial towns


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North West


East Lothian topped the Scottish Barbour ABI home

improvement capital league table for 2015.

Overall, at just over one application submitted for each

100 private homes in the nation, Scotland now lies below

Wales and every English region and was the only part of

Britain that saw the number of home improvement planning

applications fall in 2015.

The Scottish home improvement market does appear to be

flagging relative to the rest of Britain. Planning applications

have fallen over the years in Scotland from more than 23,000

in 2011 to below 22,000 in 2015.

Dumfries & Galloway last year topped the table, but this year

it fell out completely. Its temporary rise to the top of the

table was down to a surge in planning applications for home

improvement in 2013 and 2014, how much of this may have

been connected to the flooding is hard to know.

Generally speaking a strong guide to where home

improvements are most likely is where average earnings

are high. In Scotland that relationship is weaker than across

Britain as a whole. However wealth is an indicator in Argyll

& Bute, which occupies the second to top slot in the table,

as it has a higher proportion of affluent greys and this is true

within other districts in the top 10.

Interestingly, across much of Britain home improvement

activity tends to be more prevalent in less urban areas.

This is very true of Scotland. So Glasgow and West

Dunbartonshire being at the bottom of the home

improvement table in Scotland should not be a surprise.

The overall spending on home improvements in Scotland

is running at about half the amount spent in the years

immediately before the recession. Households spent about

£650 annually across 2013 and 2014, according to the

Office of National Statistics Family Spending survey. The

means the total annual spend across the nation on home

improvements comes in at £1.5 billion.

On a happy note, for those looking to promote home

improvement in Scotland the data suggests that where

people are happier in the nation you are more likely to find

home improvers. That doesn’t necessarily mean improving

your home makes you happy.

FOCUS ON…

Scotland


★ East Lothian 2.0 1.8 2.0 1

2 Argyll and Bute 2.1 2.1 1.9 -8

3 East Renfrewshire 1.5 1.6 1.7 7

4 Aberdeenshire 2.0 1.7 1.7 -10

5 Midlothian 1.3 1.4 1.5 14

6 Scottish Borders 1.3 1.3 1.5 14

7 Edinburgh 1.3 1.4 1.5 8

8 East Dunbartonshire 1.4 1.3 1.4 6

9 Highland 1.5 1.4 1.4 -4

10 Perth and Kinross 1.5 1.4 1.4 -7


Scotland districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

14

14

TOP10

Home improvement is more prevalent in less urban areas

in Scotland

IN APPLICATIONS

STRONGER IN

Decrease

Less urban areas

Applications for home improvement have fallen over the years in

Scotland from more than 23,000 in 2011 to below 22,000 in 2015

Scottish households on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost £650 a year altering and improving their homes

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Affluent Home Counties commuter towns still command

the heights in the latest in the South East regional table

of Barbour ABI’s home improvement capital of Britain,

with South Bucks topping the list ahead of Elmbridge

and Sevenoaks.

Key factors that promote planning applications for home

improvement tend to be earnings, wealth and rural

and semi-rural settings. These are in abundance in the

Home Counties, so it is not surprising that the South East

boroughs have a very strong showing in the national home

improver league.

The balance between wealth and earnings as a driver of

home improvement activity has shifted slightly over the past

few years with more emphasis appearing to be on earnings

than wealth, which became a major factor in the trough of

the recession.

It was the equity-rich downsizer moving to pleasant

retirement or semi-retirement that came to the forefront in

the recession, spending heavily to improve and add comfort

to the often newly-purchased home in their rural idyll. But

with rising house prices making home improvement a more

attractive investment and with more certainty over real

earnings growth playing its part, higher-earning families are

increasingly looking to invest in their existing homes.

So we see a very strong relationship between where plans

are submitted for home improvements and the average

earnings for the district, especially in the South East. So

it’s no surprise that the affluent boroughs of South Bucks,

Sevenoaks and Elmbridge feature high in the regional list.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the list of boroughs in the

South East for home improvement come Portsmouth,

Southampton and Gosport, districts with some of

the lowest average annual earnings. Here these local

authorities, along with Thanet, received about one

application for home improvement for every 100 private

homes, compared with South Bucks which receives six.

Measured on the number of applications for home

improvements made per 100 private homes, the South

East at 2.7 comes well above the 2.0 average for Britain, and

second only to London. Across the region there were more

than 88,000 applications in 2015.


suggests that households across the region spent about

£4.4 billion on home improvements annually across 2013

and 2014. This means the average household, including

renters, spends about £1,200 a year per household on

altering and improving their home.

FOCUS ON…

South East


★ South Bucks 5.2 5.6 6.0 10

2 Elmbridge 4.7 5.5 5.7 11

3 Sevenoaks 5.1 5.6 5.6 4

4 Chichester 4.6 4.5 5.1 12

5 Guildford 3.5 4.6 5.0 22

6 Chiltern 4.2 4.2 4.7 11

7 East Hampshire 4.0 3.6 4.5 17

8 Tunbridge Wells 4.6 4.0 4.5 4

9 Oxford 3.9 4.3 4.4 8

10 Windsor and Maidenhead 4.0 4.3 4.2 1


South East districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

22

TOP10


MORE THAN

APPLICATIONS88,000

The relationship between average

earnings and home improvement applications is

particularly strong in the South East

ARE KEY

Average earnings


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Cotswold District has taken the title of home improvement

capital of the South West, knocking the long-time

holder South Hams into second place in the Barbour ABI

league tables.

The Cotswolds ticks most of the boxes you’d expect for an

area where home improvement is rampant. Average earnings

are high, wealthy folk are moving in, it is picturesque and

suitably rural and house prices are on the rise.

For all that in the national table the district of Cotswold

doesn’t rank among the top 10% of local authorities when it

comes to the private homeowners submitting planning for

home improvements.

That said the South West is a big region for home

improvement. The Office for National Statistics Family

Spending survey suggests that households across the region

spent about £3.6 billion on home improvements annually

across 2013 and 2014. And looking at the Barbour ABI and

Family Spending data together suggests the cost of home

improvement projects in the region are well above average.

In the region the average household spends almost £1,600

a year on altering and improving their homes and that

includes those who rent. That’s more on average than

households in any other region outside of London.

But as was becoming evident last year from the Barbour

ABI figures, the starring role of the region in the home

improvement market may have reached its zenith.

Compared with the other southern regions there was

relatively subdued growth in planning applications

submitted for home improvements. That said, the region still

saw 43,000 applications for home improvements in 2015.

While builders suffered across the nation through more

recessionary times, equity-rich downsizers moving

to the South West spent heavily on improving their

newly-purchased homes. This provided much sustenance

for local builders. But as the economy has turned up

it is in regions where average incomes are higher that

we have seen the greatest uplift in home improvement

planning applications.

The South West home improvement market is buoy by the

migration of equity-rich downsizers spending heavily on

improving their homes and by investment in second and

holiday homes. This makes the home improvement market

more recession-proof than most other regions.

FOCUS ON…

South West


★ Cotswold 2.8 2.8 3.8 32

2 South Hams 3.1 3.6 3.4 2

3 North Dorset 3.0 3.1 3.3 10

4 Stroud 3.0 3.2 3.1 0

5 Bath and NE Somerset 2.6 2.7 3.0 12

6 West Dorset 2.1 3.0 2.8 10

7 Tewkesbury 2.1 2.3 2.6 19

8 Cornwall 2.4 2.6 2.5 1

9 Mendip 2.5 2.5 2.5 1

10 Cheltenham 2.3 2.5 2.5 5


South West districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

32

TOP10


MORE THAN

APPLICATIONS43,000

STRENGTHENED BYequity-rich downsizers

The South West home improvement market is buoy by the migration of equity-rich downsizers

Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost £1,600 a year altering and improving their homes, the highest outside London

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South West


A recent strong surge in planning applications over the past

two years has brought Monmouthshire to the top of the

Barbour ABI home improvement league in Wales.

But even though Monmouthshire tops the list of Welsh

local authorities, homeowners in the district still lag behind

the British average when it comes to submitting planning

applications for home improvement. In Monmouthshire the

average number of applications for home improvements per

100 private homes in 2015 stood at 1.8, lower than the 2.0%

average across Britain.

It must, however, be borne in mind that Wales has different

planning rules that can influence home improvement,

so direct comparisons with English regions are not

straightforward.

While most of the districts at the top of the table tend to be

populated with more affluent households, such as Vale of

Glamorgan, Cardiff and Monmouthshire, the relationship

between income and home improvement is much weaker

in Wales than in many other parts of Britain. However,

the link between house prices and the level of home

improvements does seem to be stronger, which makes

sense as an improvement will add greater value to a more

expensive home.

Across Wales there was a solid rise in applications in

2015 of about 12% when compared with the average

over the previous two years. This raised the number of

applications to 14,000.

There is also a hint in the data that where gaining planning

permission for new homes, the proportion of home

improvement applications is greater.

One Welsh district well worth keeping an eye on is

Ceredigion. With the University town of Aberystwyth its

beating heart and a high proportion of affluent greys in the

population, it appears to be stealthily moving up the Welsh

home improver league.


suggests that households across Wales spent an average

of about £1.1 billion on home improvements a year over

2013 and 2014. So the average Welsh household, when you

include renters as well as homeowners, spends about £840

a year on altering and improving their homes, which is about

two thirds the UK average.

FOCUS ON…

Wales


★ Monmouthshire 1.0 1.5 1.8 40

2 Vale of Glamorgan 1.3 1.5 1.6 12

3 Cardiff 1.3 1.5 1.5 10

4 Anglesey 1.4 1.6 1.4 -4

5 Ceredigion 1.1 0.9 1.4 44

6 Denbighshire 1.3 1.4 1.4 4

7 Flintshire 1.0 1.3 1.4 20

8 Swansea 1.1 1.1 1.3 18

9 Newport 1.1 1.1 1.2 13

10 Powys 1.2 1.2 1.2 5


Wales districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

44

TOP10

made for home improvement in Wales

MORE THAN

APPLICATIONS14,000

IS WEAKERLink to income

The link between income and home improvement is much weaker in Wales

than in many other parts of Britain

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Stratford-upon-Avon not only topped the Barbour ABI home

improvements league in the West Midlands yet again in

2015, but it also saw more than a 40% jump in the number of

planning applications for home alterations.

This should be no surprise. In today’s housing market,

major investment in home improvement tends to be

more prevalent among the wealthy, the high earners, the

well-to-do older homeowners and in places of beauty and

in less urban settings. Homes in such districts tend to be

well above average and if planning is tight for new homes or

the desirable stock is limited, that adds to the incentive to

upgrade existing homes.

In the West Midlands, Stratford-upon-Avon scores high on

all these counts. Warwick, second in the table, also ticks

the boxes.

Naturally the hot spots of home improvement activity will

shift over time. In more recessionary times the big spending

on renovating homes seemed to be weighted towards

those with wealth, particularly older well-to-do downsizing

householders. But, as the recession eased, it is the higher

earners that have come to the fore.

We see this in the West Midlands. Stratford-upon-Avon has

attracted plenty of wealthy downsizers keen to invest equity

they’ve released into improving their new home. But the

borough also boasts the highest average earnings in the

region, so little wonder it has seen a further boost in home

improvement planning applications.

However, Solihull, a more urban and less picturesque

district, can boast plenty of high earners. In line with the

national trend this appears to have prompted a rapid rise in

investment in home improvement.

There’s one more quirky link worth noting in the West

Midlands. Where the population of a borough scores high for

life satisfaction in the Office for National Statistics wellbeing

statistics there’s a good chance you’ll find more home

improvement activity.

West Midlands saw 11% growth in 2015 in the number of

applications submitted, with submissions rising to 26,000

for the region.

Add all the factors together and it becomes pretty clear why

districts like Wolverhampton, Redditch, and Stoke occupy

the lower end of the table.

In cash terms the Office for National Statistics Family

Spending survey suggests that households across the

region spent about £1.5 billion on home improvements

annually across 2013 and 2014. This averages at about

£640 a year per household, if you include renters and

homeowners, on altering and improving their homes. This is

about 40% below the UK average.

FOCUS ON…

West Midlands


★ Stratford-upon-Avon 2.8 2.8 4.1 43

2 Warwick 2.0 2.1 2.3 12

3 Solihull 1.6 1.3 2.3 59

4 Wychavon 1.8 1.8 2.2 19

5 Shropshire 2.0 2.0 2.0 3

6 North Warwickshire 1.5 1.7 1.8 12

7 Malvern Hills 2.0 1.7 1.7 -8

8 Herefordshire 1.6 1.4 1.6 9

9 Staffordshire Moorlands 1.0 1.4 1.6 31

10 Lichfield 1.3 1.4 1.6 15


West Midlands districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

59

TOP10

made in the region for home improvement, a rise

of 11% in 2015

APPLICATIONS26,000

INCREASE43%

in applications made for home improvement in Stratford-upon-Avon


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Harrogate regained its place at the top of the Yorkshire

& Humber Barbour ABI home improvement league table

for 2015 having briefly in 2014 relinquished the crown to

Hambleton, its neighbouring North Yorkshire borough.

Harrogate’s planners received almost three applications

for every 100 private homes in Harrogate. This was twice

the average for the region and almost 50% above the

national average.

If you’re seeking a place in Yorkshire & Humber where

households are most likely to undertake improvements

there are some clear signs to look for. The first is high

house prices. There is a strong link at the moment between

the average price of a home and the propensity of local

homeowners to invest in improving their homes.

Interestingly, in those districts where home improvement

is popular the population tends to score relatively high on

the life satisfaction scores found in the Office for National

Statistics on wellbeing statistics.

But, as in other parts of Britain, change is in the air. Heavy

investment in the rural idyll by equity-rich downsizers and

high earners remains strong. Now, though, there’s a hint that

a more settled economic recovery, rising house prices and

greater job security are encouraging more of the younger

well-paid homeowners living in larger towns and cities to be

more confident about investing in improving their homes.

Over the past three years, planners in both York and Leeds

have seen higher levels of applications submitted for

home improvements.

Across the region home improvement planning applications

rose 8% in 2015 compared with the previous two years. This

raised the total to more than 27,000.

In cash terms builders and merchants have seen a strong

rise in the money spent on home improvement in the region.


suggests that the average household in the region, including

owners and renters, spent £800 on home improvements

annually over 2013 and 2014. This puts the total annual

spend in the Yorkshire & Humber at £1.8 billion.

FOCUS ON…

Yorkshire & Humber


★ Harrogate 2.6 2.6 2.9 14

2 Hambleton 2.4 3.0 2.6 -6

3 Richmondshire 2.0 2.2 2.3 10

4 Craven 1.7 1.8 2.2 22

5 York 2.0 2.2 2.2 2

6 Ryedale 1.8 1.5 2.1 23

7 East Riding of Yorkshire 1.7 1.6 1.6 0

8 Bradford 1.4 1.4 1.6 13

9 Calderdale 1.4 1.4 1.6 15

10 Leeds 1.3 1.5 1.6 13


Yorkshire & Humber districts for home improvementNumber of home improvement applications for every 100 private homes.

23

TOP10

STILL TOPHarrogate

Harrogate regained its place at the top of the Yorkshire & Humber Barbour ABI home improvement

league table for 2015

Heavy investment in the rural idyll by equity-rich downsizers and high earners remains strong

REMAIN ATTRACTIVERural locations


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@BarbourABI

Yorkshire & Humber


Methodology & notesThe Barbour ABI Home Improver survey is based on the number of planning applications

for residential improvements received by each planning authority compared with the

estimate for the number of private homes within that authority.

The estimates of the housing stock are taken from DCLG, Welsh Government and Scottish

Government data sources.

From this a number is arrived at which represents however many home improvement

applications there are for each 100 private homes in a local authority.

Some local authorities are excluded – these being the Channel Islands, Isles of Scilly, Isle of

Man and London Legacy (the Olympic Park). All national parks are excluded except South

Downs, where the applications are assigned to the local authority within which they fall.

Also while calculations were done for all boroughs, omitted from the lists and rankings

are authorities where there are fewer than 10,000 private homes. These include City of

London, Orkney and Shetland.

Because the data tends to be erratic, to get a more sensible picture of growth in the latest

year we compare the figure with the average of the previous two years. This we believe

provides a better base.

The spending data used comes from the Office for National Statistics Family Spending

data. This fluctuates greatly so two year averages are generally used.

2011 Census data are used for population comparisons. House prices are taken from the

Office for National Statistics. Income data is the mean average taken from the Annual

Survey on Hours and Earnings.

Data for new car registration are taken from the trade body SMMT.

The planning rigidity data are taken from work undertaken by Barbour ABI and represent

the number of project rejected or withdrawn within a planning authority compared with

the number of applications for new residential schemes.

There may be apparent discrepancies with the historic figures published in previous years.

These are inevitable as data are revised.

Looking forward the prospects for home improvement

remains rosy.

The economy is on an upward path and the employment

opportunities are increasingly improving. With inflation

low we are still seeing real wage growth despite the rate of

nominal wages easing of late.

Certainly if we look to the continued rise in car sales, which

tends to be a lead indicator of home improvement we

should expect another bumper year in 2016.

Housing demand remains strong relative to housing

supply, suggesting the underlying pressure on house

prices will remain strongly upward. And as we have seen

in previous years, high house prices help to lift home

improvement activity.

Certainly the current momentum suggest house price rises

and home improvement activity are spreading from the

hyper-active central London markets to further afield, with

growth occurring across many parts of the country.

The number of potential downsizers with plenty of housing

equity continues to grow. This may well continue to feed

demand for more home improvement areas that are

attractive to those heading into retirement.

Other potential prompts for home improvement look

positive. For instance, the number of home workers for

at least part of the week has risen over the years, making

investment in home improvement more desirable for some.

However, it is always worth considering factors that suggest

caution. One thing that we can’t know is the effect of

payments for PPI mis-selling and if these have caused a one-

off surge in big-ticket purchases. Have people seen these

payment as an unexpected bonus payment and decided to

invest in either a new car or invest in some long-dreamed-of

home improvement?

Growth in the economy, while positive, has been

increasingly lacklustre of late. And we saw how susceptible

investment in home improvement can be to dips in growth.

And on top of this there is the big unknown, the outcome of

the EU Referendum. Firstly we can’t predict the result and

secondly, if we do choose to leave we have little experience

to tell us just how this will impact on both the economy and

more directly on the appetite for home improvement.

But looking at all the data with a cold eye, the best guess is

that those making a living out of home improvement have a

good year ahead of them.

OUTLOOK…

Looking forward

The current momentum suggest house price rises and home improvement activity are spreading further afield from London, with growth across many parts of the country

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Overview


Region comparison

East of England

REGION FOCUS…

East Midlands

London

North East

North West

Scotland

South East

South West

Wales

Yorkshire & Humber

West Midlands



@BarbourABI

Outlook


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