Did you spend the bank holiday weekend with a hammer in your hand, making countless trips to B&Q and cursing the barbecue’s failure to light? If so, you weren’t alone. New research by Lloyds Bank has revealed that DIY spending has reached its highest level since 2008.
Nearly ten years on from the financial crisis, confidence has returned to housing market. Although putting up a shelf or mowing the lawn may not seem like an economic indicator, experts say that an upsurge in home improvements is good news.
Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director, said: ‘Taking a DIY approach to home improvements helps cut costs and provides homeowners with the opportunity to put their own distinctive stamp on their property.
‘Although we’re not quite back to the spending heights of about a decade ago, these latest figures do show sustained growth in home improvement spending over the past seven years. This indicates a growing confidence in the housing market and wider economy, in stark contrast to the sharp fall in spending between 2007 and 2011, which reflected the worst of the economic and housing downturns during this period.’
According to Lloyds Bank, DIY spending soared by 13 per cent in 2015 to £5.8 billion – that’s equivalent to £210 per UK household. And overall home maintenance spending reached almost £8 billion, the highest since 2008.
Interestingly, while Britons are keen to improve their homea, they are increasingly unlikely to turn to tradesmen for help. The amount spent on tradesmen’s services fell by 15 per cent between 2014 and 2015 to £1.6 billion. Put another way, for every £1 spent on tradesmen, almost £4 is spent on DIY tools and materials.
As someone who was ripped off by a cowboy builder, I can see the appeal of the DIY route. While I wouldn’t trust myself with an electric saw or a hedge trimmer, I’m far more likely to try my hand at small home improvements than reach for the Yellow Pages. It also helps that my brother-in-law is a trained plumber and incredibly practical – by its own admission, my immediate family wouldn’t know one end of a spirit level from the other.
While I give myself a small pat on the back for owning a tool bag and knowing about B&Q Wednesday discounts, it comes as little surprise to learn that men continue to make the majority of DIY-related purchases. According to credit card provider MBNA, blokes accounted for 69 per cent of DIY-related transactions in 2015, with each spending an average of £267. Women spent just £120 on DIY in 2015, a decrease of 6 per cent over the past two decades.
However, I wonder if that’s because the fairer sex is more pragmatic when it comes to DIY purchases? When I venture down the aisles of a home improvement store, I stick to my list and rarely deviate. Men? Not so much. I’ve witnessed male relatives and friends barely able to contain their glee when faced with row upon row of decking, tiles and power tools.
Time was that DIY would be ‘men’s work’. That time has passed. My best male pal couldn’t drywall if his life depended on it. I also recall my mum describing the first and only time my dad attempted to put up a shelf: ‘After two hours I had a wall like a colander and no shelf.’
Helen Nugent is Online Money Editor of The Spectator
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