Find-a-tradesperson platform, Rated People has published its annual Home Improvement Trends Report, which outlines opportunitities for tradespeople.

Rated People analysed around 1.1 million home improvement jobs, posted through its platform by UK homeowners, and spoke to UK tradespeople, homeowners and homebuyers to create the fourth edition.

The research uncovered how the cost-of-living crisis and move towards sustainability will impact the industry in 2023, and has highlighted five trends.

Sponsored Video

Embrace Hygge with Pronteau Scandi

These include demand for eco-improvements, drop in home improvements, optimising space, rising renovation and worksforce shortages

With rising energy prices, and need to live more sustainably, there is a demand for eco home improvements, with 90% of UK homowners wanting to adapt their home to improve energy efficiency.

In addition,  the report revealed around eight out of ten (78%) tradespeople are planning to be more eco-friendly in 2023, with  bathroom fitters , electricians and handypeople leading the charge.

One in three (34%) homeowners also say they’d be more likely to hire a tradesperson if they were environmentally friendly.

Well over a third of tradespeople (41%) are planning to give more quotes remotely and one in three (35%) are planning to improve their business recycling.

In addition, the Rated People report found the ‘home improvement boom’ in 2022 and 2021, will reduce, impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

Compared to 2020, demand for tradespeople in 2022 was still up by 23%, but was down 15% compared to 2021.

This year, fewer homeowners are planning home improvements – 35% say they will definitely be improving their homes, which is down from 52% in 2022, and 26% say they’re unsure.

Almost three quarters (71%) of UK tradespeople expect to have work drop out in 2023 because of the rising cost of living, and eight in 10 (77%) think homeowner demand will reduce this year.

So, to overcome the challenges in 2023, almost one in three (29%) tradespeople plan to invest in marketing and advertising to attract more business and one in four (25%) will be expanding their business offering to provide more services for homeowners.

The race for space was one of the biggest reasons for UK homeowners to make improvements to their homes in 2021 and 2022.

But in 2023, homeowners say they want to optimise the design of their homes, so Rated People states repurposing rooms and areas for different uses will be a trend this year, with home bars and better storage on the rise.

With a cooling of the property market and increasing interest rates on top, Rated People has found people are now choosing to either renovate their existing home or buy a property in need of work.

Almost two in three (60%) tradespeople expect to work on renovation projects in 2023, and well over half (60%) think demand for renovations will increase this year.

However, cost of home improvement work  is impacting the types of jobs that will be most in demand, as Rated People states renovations have increased by more than £10,000 for homeowners, or 46%, in just two years.

So it states homeowners will prioritise the most cost-effective improvements for their renovation projects and states new bathrooms are more popular among renovators than new kitchens.

However, the challenges remain that there are workforce shortages across the industry to help create these home improvements.

Rated People says the future looks bright as one in four (21%) people in the UK say they’d be interested working as a tradesperson, and there was a 40% rise in trade training and enrolments in 2022.

Adrienne Minster, CEO of Rated People commented: “This year’s Home Improvement Trends Report is our biggest and best report yet – we’ve analysed more data than ever before, and it’s full of insights and opportunities for tradespeople.

“With costs continuing to increase for tradespeople, and the cost of living starting to bite for homeowners, the home improvement landscape is very different this year to the home improvement boom that we saw in 2021 and 2022.

“But, among the biggest challenges for tradespeople in 2023, there are also incredible opportunities, and we hope this report will be a valuable tool for everyone in the industry.”