Home improvement spending set to drop – could it be Referendum jitters?
7th June 2016

Barely half of homeowners now say they are looking to spend more on home improvements, a steep drop on the number only three months ago, according to the latest Leads2trade survey which speculates that uncertainty over this month’s EU Referendum may be the cause.

The lead generation provider reports that only 54% say they are likely to spend more on their home in the next two years as against 60% in its last quarterly survey. However, a similar figure (53%) are confident the UK economy will improve in the next five years, suggesting that the spending confidence dip is only temporary, according to Leads2trade Director Andy Royle (pictured, centre with his team):

“Despite concerns around the EU Referendum that may be curtailing spending, it hasn’t affected consumer confidence and it is likely we will see spending rates return to previous levels, and even increase, once a decision has been made.

“It’s also positive to see that consumer opinion of the industry is increasing, an issue which we and our customers have worked tirelessly to improve over the years.”

Elsewhere, the survey shows that consumer opinion of the home improvement industry is also improving. 45% of respondents had a positive view of the reputation of the home improvement industry. Another 46% had a neutral outlook and 9% rated it negatively. This is an 8% increase on Q1, where just 37% responded positively and 57% remained neutral.

When asked what is the most important factor when buying from a tradesman, 44% said company reputation, 33% said customer references and 10% said membership of accreditation body.

Although word of mouth is a common method for installers to attract new business, the report reveals consumers will shop around for best prices and service.

100% of those polled said they prefer to get more than one quote and the majority of consumers are going online to cross-compare multiple companies before purchasing.

51% of respondents said a website is the marketing activity most likely to attract their attention. This was followed by local advertising (25%), email marketing (10%) and leaflet drops (7%).

For homeowners who are purchasing home improvement products, uPVC is still the favourite – 84% said they prefer this material – but aluminium is slowly increasing, with a rise of 1% to 8% on Q1’s report.