Spending on property maintenance and repair doubles

Monday, 4 April 2005 12:00 AM

Over the last 20 years the amount of cash splashed by Britons on home maintenance and repair has gone up 105 per cent, but the cost of services provided by tradesmen has risen 204 per cent, the bank has revealed.

And, unsurprisingly, the amount spent on DIY goods and tools has gone up far more than the amount spent on ever more costly tradesmen. Over the last 20 years the amount Britons spend on DIY and tools rose 134 per cent, while spend on tradesmen increased just 51 per cent, Halifax found.

Over the same period UK residents have increased their spending on restaurants and hotels by 56 per cent and spend on food and drink has risen 39 per cent.

However, since 1994 spending on tradesmen such as carpenters, electricians, and plumbers has risen just two per cent, and has declined in five of the last ten years.

"There has certainly been a boom in spending on home maintenance and repairs over the past 20 years with a doubling in spending since 1984," said Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist.

"Most of this increase has been in the form of DIY with households increasingly doing jobs around the home themselves. Although we are now doing more jobs ourselves, the actual amount of work done by tradesmen on home maintenance and repairs last year was almost identical to that in 1994," he added.

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