The financial crisis has forced people to dip into their savings in order to carry out essential home repairs, according to online trade recommendation site RatedPeople.com.
According to a survey, 64 per cent of people said they have used their savings to pay for work that needs doing, while 15 per cent of homeowners paid for their home renovation project with some form of loan – a credit card, a personal loan, by re-mortgaging their property or by borrowing from friends and family.
Just a fifth of people said that they did not need to budget or save to be able to pay for the work needed, with 13 per cent of those that borrowed to make changes worried about paying it back.
The most popular home improvement projects that homeowners are currently prioritising are installing a new bathroom (16 per cent), redecorating (10 per cent), replacing the kitchen (10 per cent), landscape gardening (9 per cent) and upgrading heating, plumbing or air conditioning (8 per cent).
RatedPeople.com also found that 41 per cent of people have delayed home improvement work as a result of the current economic situation, while 10 per cent had delayed essential home repairs until it became an absolute necessity to fix them due to their financial concerns.
RatedPeope.com’s Tariq Dag Khan said: “The financial crisis has clearly impacted the ability of homeowners to undertake work on their home; we’ve seen that many homeowners have delayed extensive work until they can better afford it.
“Employing a skilled tradesman to undertake this work will ensure that homeowners avoid any NERDs (never ending renovation dramas). However, with budgets stretched it’s crucial that homeowners know that they are hiring the right person for the job.”
