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In 2021–22 households spent £60 billion on repair, maintenance, and improvement (RMI) of the housing stock*. Three quarters was spent on alterations and improvements and about £40 billion of the overall RMI work was contracted out.

This doesn’t include billions of pounds spent by a multitude of private landlords who rent out more than 20% of the homes not owned by housing associations or councils.

This huge investment in existing private housing supports builders, builders’ merchants, materials suppliers, architects, and an array of other professionals spread across the regions and nations of Britain.

Meanwhile, the backlog of improvements needed to reconfigure Britain’s aged housing stock to meet climate change and an ageing population is huge. Add in an unpredictable economic and political backdrop and the businesses delivering the improvements we need face a market in flux clouded by uncertainty.

The Home Improvement Index aims to bring some clarity by monitoring the shifts and twists in the market. It is now available on Barbour ABI’s website.

*ONS, Family spending in the UK: April 2021 to March 2022