Drop in spending on DIY |
Profits for DIY store Homebase have more than halved, going from £114m to £52m. Profits at B&Q have also dropped, with it reporting a 9% drop in profits for the first quarter compared to last year.
So what is happening to the UK DIY market? Has everyone lost interest in improving their homes? Maybe now that the huge price increases at the start of the decade have smoothed out, fewer people are interested in improving their homes? If there isn’t a rising market to help you add value, it seems people are less interested in DIY.
Perhaps the rises of the last few years were compounded by people adding value to their houses. This may also agree with the dropping in house price increases occuring at the same time as a drop off in DIY spending.
May 24th, 2006 at 12:21 pm
I did some DIY in the kitchen about 3 years ago – I haven’t moved, but I have to admit, the price increases at the time may have tempted me to add value.
May 24th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Maybe its because those Changing Rooms type programs don’t seem to be on as much?
May 26th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
I had some kitchen and bathroom work done this year, because I have decided not to move for a while. Prices are too high for now – I think prices will either drop a little, or at least not rise over the next 5 years or so.