Ever since the boom years of DIY in the 1980s, bank holidays have typically been the time when British enthusiasts tackle home improvements. But in recent years cracks have appeared in the market.
Growing employment levels and wage growth have bolstered housebuilding and construction volumes but the home improvements sector — known as repair, maintenance and improvement, or RMI — has failed to Executives point to a structural shift in the market, which was worth £14bn last year. Travis Perkins, the FTSE 100 builders’ merchant, relies on RMI for 80 per cent of its sales. Chief executive John Carter says DIY sales peaked in 2004 and now fewer young consumers have the desire to tackle home improvements, instead choosing to spend their money elsewhere.In March Kingfisher said it would shut 60 of its B&Q stores in the next two years amid falling sales as Britons increasingly turn away from DIY. That came six months after Homebase owner Home Retail announced plans to close a quarter of its stores by 2018 amid competition from supermarkets, large high street chains and online retailers and what it termed “the rise of a new generation of consumers less skilled in DIY”.
“We are vying for minds and wallets against holidays, new cars and three-piece suits, at a time when a steady influx of immigrants from eastern Europe and access to builders online has introduced competition into the market for those reluctant to do DIY jobs,” he says.
That shift has helped to fuel the fortunes of companies such as window and door manufacturers, for which renovations are a more important driver of sales than new-build orders from developers.“The fact that many are reliable, affordably priced and keen to work has proven very attractive to consumers — it has created a ‘Do it for me’ culture that has curtailed the era of ‘Do it yourself’.”
Tyman, a UK manufacturer and distributor of components for doors and windows, reported a sales jump of 20 per cent in 2014. It said the improvement reflected the investments people were making in their properties, even if they were not doing it themselves.
“The UK housing market is weighted towards repair and renovation of older homes and not newer homes. In the wake of 2008, repair sales continued but people held off big-ticket spending which weren’t essential — like a new kitchen or windows. But over the last 12 months there has been a significant upswing from quotes to execution of orders,” says James Brotherton, chief financial officer.
He says the trend is also reflective of growing activity in the housing market, given that people often spruce up their homes before a sale and after a purchase. More new-build properties mean more houses on the market, which in an upturn leads to more transactions.
Marshalls, a building products and paving specialist that generates a third of its sales from home improvements such as new driveways and patios, tells a similar story.
“London showed the first green shoots as people became more comfortable with spending out of their savings, but we are now seeing regional growth across the country,” he says.Martyn Coffey, chief executive, says the group’s domestic sales order book has reached its highest level since 2006. He notes that it was commonplace for people to fund home improvements by releasing equity from their property before 2008. After the financial crisis, volumes plummeted by more than 30 per cent, although they have recovered since 2013.
“Landscapers are picking up new employees, training them as fast as they can to keep up with demand, and we are looking into new installation systems to drive down costs when it comes to external labour. We know that if we can make the entire process lower cost and faster, then people are more likely to spend.”
Last week Britain’s biggest tile specialist Topps Tiles
said it made more than half of its turnover from trade customers, as affection for weekend DIY projects continued to wane.
“People are becoming more adventurous with their tiling projects. It means people are moving in the opposite direction to DIY, creating the need to bring a professional fitter in,” said chief executive Matt Williams.
And despite aiming to take a third of domestic sales across the country by the end of this year, he is setting his sights elsewhere.
“Once we have achieved our goal we could look at the broader commercial tile market,” he added.
