With lockdown restrictions starting to ease across most of the UK, we surveyed over 650 tradespeople and homeowners to find out what the future looks like for the building trade; and the good news is you’re feeling overwhelmingly positive.
While every business has been hit by the coronavirus pandemic, the building trade is set to come out stronger than ever, with our survey showing that 73 per cent of tradespeople are optimistic about the amount of work in the pipeline over the next six months.
69 per cent of the tradespeople said they were expecting either more work (24 per cent) or the same amount of work (45 per cent) in the next six months compared to normal, as homeowners across the UK become more willing to allow tradespeople back into their homes.
With a lot of the UK population furloughed or working from home in the early stages of lockdown, home improvements surged, with 51 per cent of UK homeowners admitting to doing more DIY than usual in the last six months.
But, as we start to come out the other side, the DIY work carried out by homeowners is expected to be passed back to you guys. While more than half (51 per cent) of homeowners doing more of the work themselves than they would have done pre-lockdown, in the longer term only 15% intend to do this. The majority (85%) stated that they’d use a tradesperson to complete the same amount of work or more, compared to before the coronavirus pandemic.
And with much of the population opting to stay at home this summer, the extra money in people’s pockets saved from cancelled trips abroad may be going towards home improvements – highlighted by the fact that a staggering 77 per cent of UK homeowners are planning to carry out work to their homes in the next 6 to 12 months.
The survey was carried out by Jewson across June and July, in collaboration with market research agency Two Ears One Mouth Ltd.
