Are householders moving on or sprucing up? A look at the trends in planning activity for households across the country

Transcription

1 Britain s improvers of Great Britain 2016 Are householders moving on or sprucing up? A look at the trends in planning activity for households across the country

2 OVERVIEW What drives home improvement? Britain s Where are homeowners likely to dig deep into their pockets to shell out on home improvement projects and what might influence their decision? Well, we can get some big indications from looking at the local authorities that come top of the Barbour ABI lists. Barbour ABI captures data on all planning applications made across Britain. Using this data we can see where, in relation to the size of the housing stock, most of the more substantial home improvement takes place. Linking this to other sources then gives us a better insight into what factors make households in some places more likely to invest in improving their home. The first thing you will notice glimpsing the local authorities topping the tables is that there is a higher level of home improvement in areas where homes tend to be more expensive. Location is one of the big factors in the levels of home improvement It s not just high house prices that drive home improvement activity. While house prices in an area will be a big factor, in each region and each borough there will be differences in what prompts home owners to improve their homes rather than move, or buy and do up rather than buy a different home that better fits their needs and aspirations. Naturally, too, the health of the economy will play a part in the confidence of those considering putting their hands in their pockets to splash out on a major investment in their home. So, armed with the rankings of home improvers nationally and regionally, plus an array of different data, we ve sought to establish some of the factors that are likely to encourage home improvement activity. Quarterly number of home-improver applications The health of the economy will play a part in the confidence of those considering home improvements FIG GDP and home improvement planning applications Source: Barbour ABI, ONS Applications quarterly moving average The economy All the data shows that home improvement activity shifts with changes in the economy. If we follow the dotted trend line in Fig. 1.1 for number of home improvement applications, it is clear there is a strong link. Applications dropped with the recession and rose with the recovery, even taking a slight dip after the economic recovery weakened in 2011 and But recessions hit some people harder than others and this can alter the pattern of home improvement across the nation. For instance, closer examination of the Barbour ABI data indicates that it slowed among those with income more than those with wealth Quarterly GDP ( bn) Private housing RMI ( m) 25,000 20,000 15,000,000 FIG 1.2 5,000 This meant those in employment were more likely to hold back than those in or near retirement. So it was the, a traditional retirement destination, where the home improver market suffered less than many other parts of Britain. One indicator of how the economy influences home improvement projects is to look at another big-ticket expense for households, such as a car. And Fig. 1.2 shows how car sales and home improvement rise and fall similarly. Economists will tell you that work on home improvement tends to follow car sales by about nine months. So it provides a neat early warning indicator Car sales and contracted-out housing repair, maintenance and improvement Source: ONS, SMMT 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1, CONTINUED Thousands of new car registrations

3 CONTINUED What drives home improvement? Britain s House prices In Fig. 1.3 we plotted the average number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes in each of Britain s local authorities over three years against the median house price. It seems pretty conclusive that there is a strong link. But look at the data regionally and the relationship varies in strength from region to region. It is very strong in and in the, but much weaker in the, and. Why this is the case is not clear from the data. There will be a number of factors at play. Certainly we might reasonably speculate, at least for the South West and, that one reason for the weaker link might be the high number of second homes. This could moderate the relationship between home improvement and house prices. One reason for the weaker link between house prices and home improvement, in the and, might be the high number of second homes The key point, though, is that house prices in most places have a significant bearing on how much larger scale home improvement is undertaken. Transactions The link between the number of sales of private homes and the money spent on renovating homes is generally accepted among economists who track construction. Finding good data to back it up isn t that easy. But we can see when comparing transactions with the official figures for work done by contractors on private housing repair, maintenance and improvement (Fig. 1.4) that the two follow a similar path. This isn t proof of any causal link, but it supports the idea that the more sales of homes the more home improvement. And when we compare home sales with home improvement planning applications for local authorities across England and (see Fig. 1.5) it shows a tendency for more home improvement activity in local authorities with proportionately more home sales. However, when we look more at the relationship regionally we see fairly weak links. In some regions, mainly in the north of England, we see only a modest link in some regions between home sales and home improvement applications. There are signs of a moderate relationship in the northern regions of England. But in, the and South West, there seems to be no discernible correlation. And if we separately plot for there is again no apparent link. Median house price ( 000) 1,400 1,200 1, FIG improvement applications per 0 private homes Private housing RMI ( 000) 22,000 20,000 18,000 16,000 14,000 12,000, FIG 1.4 2,000 1,600 1, Thousands of transactions (England & only) Residential transactions per 0 private homes FIG improvement applications per 0 private homes improvements and house prices by local authority Source: Barbour ABI, ONS, DCLG sales and private housing repair, maintenance and improvement Source: ONS, HMRC improvements and volume of house sales by local authority (England & only). Source: Barbour ABI, HMRC, DCLG CONTINUED

4 CONTINUED What drives home improvement? Britain s Income improvement tends to be expensive. So it s no surprise to find a strong relationship between average earnings and the level of home improvement. Fig. 1.7 plots the Barbour ABI home improvement applications numbers for each local authority against average income shows. It illustrates the strong relationship. Planning Do people turn to home improvement more in areas where planning for new homes is tougher to win? Well, the data seems to suggest so. Using detailed It could well be that well-to-do people are both more prone to improving their homes and also more averse to new homes being built near them. As with other factors, the impact of planning rigidity There is a stronger link to income in the and, compared to the, and Over the past years the top 20% of households on the income scale have spent about 14 times the amount on home improvements than the bottom 20%, according to the Office for National Statistics on This is no surprise as income will tend to determine average house prices, so we d expect to see similar patterns. Interestingly though, finer regional analysis shows a much weaker link in the, and. The link appeared stronger in the South East and. Interestingly, there was a similar strong link between home improvement and income in the as there was when comparing home improvement activity and house prices. planning data we can measure the proportion of applications rejected or withdrawn. This provides a rough-and-ready measure of planning rigidity for each local authority. When we look at the national picture (Fig. 1.8) it seems that there is a link between it being tougher to get permission for new homes and more home improvement. This doesn t mean there s a causal link. seems to vary region to region. In,, the and, the correlation between planning rigidity and home improvement applications is negligible. The strongest relationship seems to be in the, Yorkshire and Humber and the. family spending (Fig. 1.6). Data seems to suggest that people turn to home improvement when planning applications for new homes are difficult to get approved 8.5% 3.8% 12.6% 21.2% 54% Highest 20% Second 20% Third 20% Fourth 20% Lowest 20% Mean income ( 000) Planning rigidity index FIG 1.6 FIG 1.7 improvement applications per 0 private homes FIG 1.8 improvement applications per 0 private homes Proportion of family spending on contracted-out home improvements by households, by income Source: ONS improvements and average income by local authority Source: Barbour ABI, ONS, DCLG Housing improvements and planning rigidity by local authority Source: Barbour ABI, DCLG CONTINUED

5 CONTINUED What drives home improvement? Britain s Rural or urban? The most active locations for home improvement are currently in. But does an urban or a rural setting influence the likelihood of the owner submitting a home improvement planning application? With the exception of, rural areas are more likely to be hot spots of home improvement activity We tested this nationally and regionally. If we look nationally the urban-rural split doesn t seem to make much difference. But if we look within regions, we see a different pattern emerging. Obviously leaving out, for many regions it seems rural areas are far more likely to be hot spots of home improvement activity than more urban locations. Age profile Can you look at the age profile of an area and judge whether it s prime for home improvement work? The answer is not that straightforward, but there are clues. The Office for National Statistics produce family expenditure figures that show how much different households spend on home improvement. Fig. 1.9, unsurprisingly, shows that it is the age category that have the highest average weekly spend on home improvement. Coming out of the recession those aged between 50 and retirement have spent more heavily on home improvement. And we ve seen an increase in spending of those in retirement. This could of course be in part down to the aging profile of home owners. Nationally there s little evidence that age profile of a local authority makes a huge difference to the level of home improvement planning applications. Adversely, in the and the West Midlands those boroughs with higher proportions of people between 50 and retirement appear to receive proportionately greater levels of home improvement planning applications. FIG or over 65 to to to 49 Under 30 Kids Average weekly spend ( ) Are you more likely to see home improvement in areas where there are more homes with kids? That s a very different question and oddly the answer seems to be no. That is if we look at where planning applications are made. Fig. 1. shows the average annual spend over five years from 20 to Looking at the areas where home improvement planning applications are most prevalent suggests, if anything, that there s more chance of home improvement in an area where there are more homes without children, especially in, the South 2005 to to 2014 Changing pattern of spending on contracted-out home improvement work by age Source: ONS Retired one person Retired two adults Non-retired one person Non-retired two adults One adult with children Two adults with children Three+ adults with children FIG 1. Average annual spend ( ) by household type Source: ONS West and Yorkshire and Humber. Even when we adjust for different types of location it seems that home improvement is more prevalent where there are more homes without children. Nationally there s little evidence that age profile of a local authority makes a huge difference to the level of home improvement planning applications Average annual spend ( )

6 DISTRICT OVERVIEW Which districts top the national table? and the southern regions of Britain continue to dominate the Barbour ABI national home improvement league, but the pattern is changing as investment in refurbishing homes spreads from prime central to outer boroughs, into the wealthier commuter towns and further afield. Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster still sat atop the 2015 table of local authorities when it came to the number of home improvement planning applications received for every 0 private homes in the borough. The chances of a planning application being submitted for a private house in Kensington & Chelsea is almost 18 times more than in Blackpool or Stoke Despite a slight decrease in 2015, for every 0 homes in Kensington & Chelsea there were 7.3 home improvement applications, more than three times the national average and twice the average for. In total, almost 5,000 planning applications for home improvements were submitted to the borough last year, double the number in 20. But even for those outside there s plenty to smile about. Across Britain as a whole there was a steady rise in the number of applications for home improvement in 2015 and the signs are for further increases in the coming year. Fig. 2.1 shows the monthly level of home improvement applications in Britain and the path is clearly up as the recession recedes. Barbour ABI s home-improver analysis supports findings a year ago that the rising tide of homeimprovement planning applications is spreading rapidly from central. This year s biggest riser was Cambridge, which last year was 69th in the Barbour ABI home-improver capital of Britain table last year, leaping to 7th. Demand for homes in the city has risen sharply and with limited supply there was a 14.4% rise in prices in 2015, according to track s 20-City Index. That was a bigger rise than in any other major UK city, including. This appears to be a major factor in leading homeowners and buyers in the city to turn to home improvement. The local authorities in, the and continue to dominate the Top 25 in this year s national table. The picturesque retirement locations of Devon, such as South Hams that through the recession acted as a beacon for home-improving affluent greys, no longer feature in the Top 25, as spending on home improvement seems to be shifting from equity-rich downsizers to high earners. The only district to feature in the top 50 is Cotswold, which now sits top in the region s home-improvers table. And you have to look down the list to number 74 before you see Harrogate, the highest ranked northern borough. Ironically, perhaps, many of the areas where housing may need most investment are those where home improvement is least prevalent. It is the poorer more urban areas of Blackpool and Stoke that prop up the bottom of the table in close company with plenty of Scottish districts. The chances of a planning application being submitted for a private house in Kensington & Chelsea is almost 18 times more than in Blackpool or Stoke. It is not just the increase in planning applications that says home improvement is on the up. The Monthly home-improver applications FIG ,000 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000,000 5, latest Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that the average annual spend by households on altering and improving their homes was about 1,080 in 2014 up from about 920 in This means that the nation spent, on the basis of these figures, about 33 billion in 2014 on housing alterations and improvements. That said, the spread spending on home improvements and alterations is far from even. The average spend in is about three and a half times that spent by the average household in the. Applications 12 month moving average Monthly home-improver planning applications and 12 month moving average Source: Barbour ABI CLICK TO VIEW Top & bottom 25 districts In 2014, the nation spent about 33 billion on housing alterations and improvements, with, the and dominating Yearly moving average INCREASES The 12 month moving average shows that the path is clearly up as the recession recedes Britain s

7 25 Districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. BOTTOM 25 Districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Britain s Rank District Region Growth (%)* Kensington and Chelsea LN Westminster LN Uttlesford EE Hammersmith and Fulham LN South Bucks SE Richmond upon Thames LN Cambridge EE Elmbridge SE Sevenoaks SE St Albans EE South Northamptonshire EM Chichester SE Guildford SE Harrow LN Chiltern SE Barnet LN Hounslow LN East Hampshire SE Tunbridge Wells SE Oxford SE Kingston upon Thames LN Brent LN Hertsmere EE Redbridge LN Lambeth LN Rank District Region Growth (%)* 25 Wirral NW Nuneaton and Bedworth WM Wolverhampton WM Knowsley NW Halton NW Tameside NW Burnley NW Rossendale NW West Lothian SC Rotherham YH Kingston upon Hull YH Renfrewshire SC Inverclyde SC Barnsley YH Wigan NW Falkirk SC Hyndburn NW North Lanarkshire SC Dundee SC North Ayrshire SC Glasgow SC Redditch WM West Dunbartonshire SC Stoke on Trent WM Blackpool NW

8 REGION OVERVIEW How do the regions and countries of Britain compare? Britain s It s hard to compare home improvement activity regionally within Britain without immediately turning to as the benchmark. It dominates the home improver market and continues to stretch its lead in This is not surprising. It has huge demand for housing, with a limited stock of new homes, high and fast rising house prices and a large proportion of the richest people in Britain. STRENGTH NEAR improvement is growing stronger in the regions nearest to GROWTH IN outer boroughs The borough of Harrow saw a leap of a third in applications in 2015 What s more interesting about right now is just how fast the home improvement boom in central is expanding to the outer boroughs. However the scorching hot home improver district of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster still remain singularly hot. improvement across Britain s regions and countries Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Rank Region/Country Growth (%)* Not surprisingly, dominates the home improver market and continues to stretch its lead in The growth, though, is now coming from the outer boroughs such as Harrow, which saw a leap of a third in home improver planning applications in 2015 compared to the average over the previous two years. aside, the spread is occurring throughout Britain. Unsurprisingly the is seeing a surge, up 14% But so is, which has seen a rise of more than 12% comparing 2015 levels with the previous two years. England Great Britain

9 Uttlesford, the north Essex local authority that takes in Saffron Walden, Stansted, Thaxted and Great Dunmow, continues to hold the top spot in the Barbour ABI Improvement league table for the. But the big story this year is how Cambridge shot into second place. Cambridge leapt from well outside the national top 50 for home improvement in 2014 to 7th in 2015, as planning applications more than doubled. Undoubtedly a big prompt pushing homeowners to invest in home improvement was the rapid rise in demand for houses seen in and around Cambridge over the past few years. Last year prices rocketed 14.4%, putting Cambridge top of the track 20-City Composite Index and knocking into second place. While Cambridge provided icing on the cake for local builders, the region continues to provide rich pickings. There was a 14% jump in 2015 in home improvement planning applications in the compared with the average over the previous two years. Outside this was the biggest increase. There were more than 53,000 applications made in the region, which comes in at about 2.5 for every 0 privately-owned homes, ranking the region third after and the. The Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that households in the on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 1,300 a year altering and improving their homes. That totals to about 3.2 billion spent in the region. Research using Barbour ABI data shows that homeowners incomes is a big driver of home improvement in the region. It also suggests that where planning for new homes is hard to come by there s greater appetite among owners to alter or improve their homes. Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 1,300 a year altering and improving their homes Another clue to finding budding home improvers in the region is to look more to rural than urban areas, as on balance there are more planning applications made for every 0 homes in rural areas than in the bigger towns and cities. MORE THAN 53,000 APPLICATIONS made in the region for home improvement Cambridge IS ON THE UP leaping from well outside the national top 50 districts for home improvement in 2014 to 7th in districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Uttlesford Cambridge St Albans Hertsmere Three Rivers Brentwood Epping Forest Welwyn Hatfield Watford North Hertfordshire Britain s

10 South Northamptonshire, centred on Towcester, held its place at the top of the home improvement league, as planning applications in the borough soared for a second year in For every 0 homeowners in the borough more than five put in a planning application for home improvement in In 2013 it was just over three. The fact that South Northamptonshire borough tops the league should be no surprise, given its healthy stock of wealthy executive types and flourishing families. For the past two years income has increasingly become the driver of home improvements, rather than the equity of more elderly homeowners and downsizers as it was during the recession. Over the past two years home improvement activity has steadily increased, with the more affluent districts boosting the overall numbers of planning applications in the region to almost 26,000, more than a 12% rise in 2015 compared with the average over the previous two years. Despite increasing numbers of planning applications, with an average of 1.5 made for every 0 private homes, the East Midlands remains below the average across Britain of 2.0. Looking at what drives home improvement in the East Midlands, the evidence from Barbour ABI research seems to point to three main factors in the region income is the biggest home improvement driver, secondly areas where the proportion of homeowners are over 50 are likely to see more applications and finally we are seeing more applications in rural locations than in the larger urban areas. Certainly this pattern is clear from the boroughs at the top of the pile in the region. And it helps explain why boroughs such as Mansfield, Derby and Corby take the bottom three places in the regional table. Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 1,0 a year altering and improving their homes Looking at the amount spent by homeowners in the region, the Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests they spent an average of about 2.1 billion annually on home improvements over 2013 and This averages out at almost 1,0 a year per household on altering and improving their homes. That s about on a par with the national average. MORE THAN 12% RISE IN 2015 applications made for home improvement compared with the previous two years DOMINANTION IN rural locations We see more applications in rural locations than in the larger urban areas in the region districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. South Northamptonshire Rutland Harborough Rushcliffe East Northamptonshire Daventry Melton Derbyshire South Kesteven Charnwood Britain s

11 continued to dominate the Barbour ABI rankings for home improvement planning applications in 2015 with another jump in numbers over the year. That rise was despite a slight slowdown in the top boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster. There are clear signs that the massive home improvement bug that bit the capital is spreading. owners in were on average in 2015 almost twice as likely to put in an application to improve their home as those in the rest of Britain. There were almost 0,000 applications submitted to planning authorities last year for home improvements, a rise of more than 50% since Kensington & Chelsea once again topped the league table both for and Britain, with more than seven in every 0 homeowners in the borough submitting an application to improve their home. The driver behind this upward trend in home improvement in is not surprising. With land values booming, the economics of spending on enhancing and expanding an existing home can be compelling. Add in the fact that there is no shortage of people with sufficient wealth, income or both to invest. With prices having risen strongly across all, the boom in home improvement has spread from central boroughs outward. The fastest growth is now in the outer boroughs. This year we saw Lambeth fall out of the top and Redbridge sneak a place. Generally speaking in, as across most of the country, we find high proportions of home improvement planning applications where average earnings are highest. It is not surprising to see Barking and Dagenham, where average incomes are relatively low, propping up the table for the capital. But the hunger for housing in is Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 1,900 a year altering and improving their homes great and buyers are looking further afield to buy. The opportunity to buy-and-do-up in previously less desirable areas appears to be increasingly attractive. So we should expect to see the outward spread of rising house prices prompting increasing home improvement activity in the outer boroughs. The Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that the total spend by households annually on home improvements averaged 6.2 billion over 2013 and This means an annual average spend of about 1,900 a year per household, if we include those renting, on altering and improving their homes. Outer boroughs INCREASE s boom in home improvement has spread from the central to the outer boroughs 36 ALMOST 0,000 APPLICATIONS submitted to planning authorities last year for home improvements. Up 50% since 2012 districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Kensington and Chelsea Westminster Hammersmith and Fulham Richmond upon Thames Harrow Barnet Hounslow Kingston upon Thames Brent Redbridge Britain s

12 The district of Northumberland once again tops the list of boroughs in the Barbour ABI home improvement league for the. In 2015 the region saw 5% growth in the number of planning applications made for home improvement compared with the average over the previous two years. This growth was less than across Britain as a whole putting the region yet further behind the national average when Interestingly, Durham, which does have a high number of affluent residents, saw the fastest growth in the number of home improvement planning applications in 2015 for the. One further factor having an influence in the region is that where planning for homes is tougher, as measured using Barbour ABI data, there is likely to be more applications for home improvements. Average earnings IS A BIG FACTOR for where home improvement happens in the Further behind NATIONAL AVERAGE 28 Britain s Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 550 a year altering and improving their homes it comes to the likelihood of homeowners submitting a planning application for home improvement. The average number of planning applications for home improvements in 2015 across Britain was two for every 0 private homes. The top of the improvers table in the North East, Northumberland, came in at 1.5, while Sunderland was at the bottom of the regional table saw roughly half that. There is a strong link across Britain between the level of home improvements, average earnings and rising house prices. So the pattern we see in the should be expected, with average earnings in the well below the national average. Within the region this pattern broadly holds. Northumberland and Newcastle, which top the table, both are at the top end for average earnings in the region and are among the districts with the highest average house prices. The level of overall spending on home improvements in the region is still running well below the amount spent in the years immediately before the recession. Households on average in the spent about 550 million on home improvements annually across 2013 and 2014, according to the Office of National Statistics Family Spending survey. Despite a rise in home improvement planning applications the fell further behind the national average in 2015 districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Northumberland Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside South Tyneside Stockton-on-Tees Darlington Durham Hartlepool Middlesbrough Redcar and Cleveland

13 The Trafford district of Greater Manchester held its place as the home improvement capital of the for 2015 having seen a surge in planning applications over the past two years, according to the latest Barbour ABI analysis. The boroughs in the region where homeowners proportionately submit more planning applications for home improvement do tend to be those where average incomes are higher, although this relationship is perhaps less strong in the than in the rest of Britain. What is particularly interesting this year is how far the emphasis for home improvements has shifted away from the rural idylls, boroughs such as Ribble Valley and Eden, which dominated the listings in previous years. The pretty retirement homes and second-home hotspots still rank high in the home improvement tables, but the greatest growth appears to be in the old industrial towns of the. While they may not feature in the region s top, the boroughs that have seen the fastest growth in applications for home improvement over the past year are Preston, Burnley and Salford. At the bottom of the list of districts for home improvements we once again find Blackpool. Here we also find the lowest average earnings in the region. There may be much talk of seaside towns being spruced up in the south of England, but across most of the country coastal boroughs seem to be nearer the bottom than the top of the home improvement list of hotspots. In Blackpool last year there was just one application made for home improvements for every 250 private homes. That was the lowest rate in Britain. The in 2015 saw an average number of home improvement applications received for every 0 private homes of a shade above 1.2, well below the average of 2.0 across Britain. The total for the region was almost 32,000 in The average spend per household is lower than the national average too. The Office for National Statistics Family Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 850 a year altering and improving their homes Spending survey suggests that the average household in 2013 and 2014, including renters, spent about 850 annually on home improvements against a UK average of more than 1,0. That makes the market for home improvements in the worth about 2.6 billion. ALMOST 32,000 APPLICATIONS made in the region for home improvement GROWTH IN industrial towns The greatest growth appears to have shifted to the old industrial towns districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Trafford Cheshire West and Chester Ribble Valley Eden Cheshire East West Lancashire Warrington Stockport Lancaster Chorley Britain s

14 East Lothian topped the Scottish Barbour ABI home improvement capital league table for Overall, at just over one application submitted for each 0 private homes in the nation, now lies below and every English region and was the only part of Britain that saw the number of home improvement planning applications fall in This is very true of. So Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire being at the bottom of the home improvement table in should not be a surprise. The overall spending on home improvements in is running at about half the amount spent in the years immediately before the recession. Households spent about 650 annually across 2013 and 2014, according to the STRONGER IN Less urban areas improvement is more prevalent in less urban areas in rease IN APPLICATIONS 14 Britain s Scottish households on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 650 a year altering and improving their homes The Scottish home improvement market does appear to be flagging relative to the rest of Britain. Planning applications have fallen over the years in from more than 23,000 in 2011 to below 22,000 in Dumfries & Galloway last year topped the table, but this year it fell out completely. Its temporary rise to the top of the table was down to a surge in planning applications for home improvement in 2013 and 2014, how much of this may have been connected to the flooding is hard to know. Generally speaking a strong guide to where home improvements are most likely is where average earnings are high. In that relationship is weaker than across Britain as a whole. However wealth is an indicator in Argyll & Bute, which occupies the second to top slot in the table, as it has a higher proportion of affluent greys and this is true within other districts in the top. Interestingly, across much of Britain home improvement activity tends to be more prevalent in less urban areas. Office of National Statistics Family Spending survey. The means the total annual spend across the nation on home improvements comes in at 1.5 billion. On a happy note, for those looking to promote home improvement in the data suggests that where people are happier in the nation you are more likely to find home improvers. That doesn t necessarily mean improving your home makes you happy. Applications for home improvement have fallen over the years in from more than 23,000 in 2011 to below 22,000 in 2015 districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. East Lothian Argyll and Bute East Renfrewshire Aberdeenshire Midlothian Scottish Borders Edinburgh East Dunbartonshire Highland Perth and Kinross

15 Affluent Counties commuter towns still command the heights in the latest in the regional table of Barbour ABI s home improvement capital of Britain, with South Bucks topping the list ahead of Elmbridge and Sevenoaks. Key factors that promote planning applications for home improvement tend to be earnings, wealth and rural and semi-rural settings. These are in abundance in the Counties, so it is not surprising that the boroughs have a very strong showing in the national home improver league. The balance between wealth and earnings as a driver of home improvement activity has shifted slightly over the past few years with more emphasis appearing to be on earnings than wealth, which became a major factor in the trough of the recession. It was the equity-rich downsizer moving to pleasant retirement or semi-retirement that came to the forefront in the recession, spending heavily to improve and add comfort to the often newly-purchased home in their rural idyll. But with rising house prices making home improvement a more attractive investment and with more certainty over real earnings growth playing its part, higher-earning families are increasingly looking to invest in their existing homes. So we see a very strong relationship between where plans are submitted for home improvements and the average earnings for the district, especially in the. So it s no surprise that the affluent boroughs of South Bucks, Sevenoaks and Elmbridge feature high in the regional list. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the list of boroughs in the for home improvement come Portsmouth, Southampton and Gosport, districts with some of the lowest average annual earnings. Here these local authorities, along with Thanet, received about one Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 1,200 a year altering and improving their homes application for home improvement for every 0 private homes, compared with South Bucks which receives six. Measured on the number of applications for home improvements made per 0 private homes, the South East at 2.7 comes well above the 2.0 average for Britain, and second only to. Across the region there were more than 88,000 applications in The Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that households across the region spent about 4.4 billion on home improvements annually across 2013 and This means the average household, including renters, spends about 1,200 a year per household on altering and improving their home. Average earnings ARE KEY The relationship between average earnings and home improvement applications is particularly strong in the districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. South Bucks Elmbridge Sevenoaks Chichester Guildford Chiltern East Hampshire Tunbridge Wells Oxford Windsor and Maidenhead MORE THAN 88,000 APPLICATIONS made in the region for home improvement Britain s

16 Cotswold District has taken the title of home improvement capital of the, knocking the long-time holder South Hams into second place in the Barbour ABI league tables. The Cotswolds ticks most of the boxes you d expect for an area where home improvement is rampant. Average earnings are high, wealthy folk are moving in, it is picturesque and suitably rural and house prices are on the rise. For all that in the national table the district of Cotswold doesn t rank among the top % of local authorities when it comes to the private homeowners submitting planning for home improvements. That said the is a big region for home improvement. The Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that households across the region spent about 3.6 billion on home improvements annually across 2013 and And looking at the Barbour ABI and Family Spending data together suggests the cost of home improvement projects in the region are well above average. In the region the average household spends almost 1,600 a year on altering and improving their homes and that includes those who rent. That s more on average than households in any other region outside of. But as was becoming evident last year from the Barbour ABI figures, the starring role of the region in the home improvement market may have reached its zenith. Compared with the other southern regions there was relatively subdued growth in planning applications submitted for home improvements. That said, the region still saw 43,000 applications for home improvements in While builders suffered across the nation through more recessionary times, equity-rich downsizers moving to the spent heavily on improving their Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 1,600 a year altering and improving their homes, the highest outside newly-purchased homes. This provided much sustenance for local builders. But as the economy has turned up it is in regions where average incomes are higher that we have seen the greatest uplift in home improvement planning applications. The home improvement market is buoy by the migration of equity-rich downsizers spending heavily on improving their homes and by investment in second and holiday homes. This makes the home improvement market more recession-proof than most other regions. STRENGTHENED BY equity-rich downsizers The home improvement market is buoy by the migration of equity-rich downsizers MORE THAN 43,000 APPLICATIONS made in the region for home improvement districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Cotswold South Hams North Dorset Stroud Bath and NE Somerset West Dorset Tewkesbury Cornwall Mendip Cheltenham Britain s

17 A recent strong surge in planning applications over the past two years has brought Monmouthshire to the top of the Barbour ABI home improvement league in. But even though Monmouthshire tops the list of Welsh local authorities, homeowners in the district still lag behind the British average when it comes to submitting planning applications for home improvement. In Monmouthshire the average number of applications for home improvements per 0 private homes in 2015 stood at 1.8, lower than the 2.0% average across Britain. It must, however, be borne in mind that has different planning rules that can influence home improvement, so direct comparisons with English regions are not straightforward. While most of the districts at the top of the table tend to be populated with more affluent households, such as Vale of Glamorgan, Cardiff and Monmouthshire, the relationship between income and home improvement is much weaker in than in many other parts of Britain. However, the link between house prices and the level of home improvements does seem to be stronger, which makes sense as an improvement will add greater value to a more expensive home. Across there was a solid rise in applications in 2015 of about 12% when compared with the average over the previous two years. This raised the number of applications to 14,000. There is also a hint in the data that where gaining planning permission for new homes, the proportion of home improvement applications is greater. One Welsh district well worth keeping an eye on is Ceredigion. With the University town of Aberystwyth its beating heart and a high proportion of affluent greys in the population, it appears to be stealthily moving up the Welsh home improver league. Households on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 840 a year altering and improving their homes The Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that households across spent an average of about 1.1 billion on home improvements a year over 2013 and So the average Welsh household, when you include renters as well as homeowners, spends about 840 a year on altering and improving their homes, which is about two thirds the UK average. Link to income IS WEAKER The link between income and home improvement is much weaker in than in many other parts of Britain MORE THAN 14,000 APPLICATIONS made for home improvement in districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Monmouthshire Vale of Glamorgan Cardiff Anglesey Ceredigion Denbighshire Flintshire Swansea Newport Powys Britain s

18 Stratford-upon-Avon not only topped the Barbour ABI home improvements league in the yet again in 2015, but it also saw more than a 40% jump in the number of planning applications for home alterations. This should be no surprise. In today s housing market, major investment in home improvement tends to be more prevalent among the wealthy, the high earners, the well-to-do older homeowners and in places of beauty and in less urban settings. s in such districts tend to be well above average and if planning is tight for new homes or the desirable stock is limited, that adds to the incentive to upgrade existing homes. In the, Stratford-upon-Avon scores high on all these counts. Warwick, second in the table, also ticks the boxes. Naturally the hot spots of home improvement activity will shift over time. In more recessionary times the big spending on renovating homes seemed to be weighted towards those with wealth, particularly older well-to-do downsizing householders. But, as the recession eased, it is the higher earners that have come to the fore. We see this in the. Stratford-upon-Avon has attracted plenty of wealthy downsizers keen to invest equity they ve released into improving their new home. But the borough also boasts the highest average earnings in the region, so little wonder it has seen a further boost in home improvement planning applications. However, Solihull, a more urban and less picturesque district, can boast plenty of high earners. In line with the national trend this appears to have prompted a rapid rise in investment in home improvement. There s one more quirky link worth noting in the West Midlands. Where the population of a borough scores high for life satisfaction in the Office for National Statistics wellbeing statistics there s a good chance you ll find more home improvement activity. saw 11% growth in 2015 in the number of applications submitted, with submissions rising to 26,000 for the region. Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 640 a year altering and improving their homes Add all the factors together and it becomes pretty clear why districts like Wolverhampton, Redditch, and Stoke occupy the lower end of the table. In cash terms the Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that households across the region spent about 1.5 billion on home improvements annually across 2013 and This averages at about 640 a year per household, if you include renters and homeowners, on altering and improving their homes. This is about 40% below the UK average. 26,000 APPLICATIONS made in the region for home improvement, a rise of 11% in % INCREASE in applications made for home improvement in Stratford-upon-Avon districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Stratford-upon-Avon Warwick Solihull Wychavon Shropshire North Warwickshire Malvern Hills Herefordshire Staffordshire Moorlands Lichfield Britain s

19 23 Britain s Harrogate regained its place at the top of the Yorkshire & Humber Barbour ABI home improvement league table for 2015 having briefly in 2014 relinquished the crown to Hambleton, its neighbouring North Yorkshire borough. Harrogate s planners received almost three applications for every 0 private homes in Harrogate. This was twice the average for the region and almost 50% above the national average. Over the past three years, planners in both York and Leeds have seen higher levels of applications submitted for home improvements. Across the region home improvement planning applications rose 8% in 2015 compared with the previous two years. This raised the total to more than 27,000. In cash terms builders and merchants have seen a strong rise in the money spent on home improvement in the region. Households in the region on average spent across 2013 and 2014 almost 800 a year altering and improving their homes Harrogate STILL Harrogate regained its place at the top of the Barbour ABI home improvement league table for 2015 Rural locations REMAIN ATTRACTIVE Heavy investment in the rural idyll by equity-rich downsizers and high earners remains strong If you re seeking a place in where households are most likely to undertake improvements there are some clear signs to look for. The first is high house prices. There is a strong link at the moment between the average price of a home and the propensity of local homeowners to invest in improving their homes. Interestingly, in those districts where home improvement is popular the population tends to score relatively high on the life satisfaction scores found in the Office for National The Office for National Statistics Family Spending survey suggests that the average household in the region, including owners and renters, spent 800 on home improvements annually over 2013 and This puts the total annual spend in the at 1.8 billion. districts for home improvement Number of home improvement applications for every 0 private homes. Harrogate Hambleton Richmondshire Craven Statistics on wellbeing statistics. But, as in other parts of Britain, change is in the air. Heavy 5 York Ryedale investment in the rural idyll by equity-rich downsizers and high earners remains strong. Now, though, there s a hint that a more settled economic recovery, rising house prices and greater job security are encouraging more of the younger well-paid homeowners living in larger towns and cities to be 7 East Riding of Yorkshire Bradford Calderdale Leeds more confident about investing in improving their homes.