Would you like to know what clients are focusing on when renovating their homes; which features are growing in popularity and which are becoming less popular, and the key things that influence homeowners’ decisions when hiring a pro?
The 2024 UK Houzz & Home Renovation Trends Study has the answers to these questions and more. Take a look to see what was on clients’ minds when renovating their homes and gardens last year.
*The 2024 UK Houzz & Home survey was sent to registered users of Houzz and fielded between January and February 2024.
Download the full report.
What were homeowners spending on renovations last year?
People are spending more and more on their renovation projects, with the median spend* jumping by 13%, from £15,000 in 2020 to £17,000 in 2023. The high-end spenders have also increased their budgets, with the median 90th percentile spend rising from an average of £100,000 in 2020 to £200,000 in 2023.
While Baby Boomers were most likely to renovate their homes in 2023 (54%), followed by Gen X at 34% and Millennials at 12%, Gen X were the biggest spenders. The average budget for a Gen X renovator was £22,000, while Millennials spent an average of £15,000 and Baby Boomers spent £16,000.
* Median spend is the midpoint level, meaning half of renovating homeowners on Houzz spent more and half spent less.
Which rooms were homeowners renovating last year?
Bathrooms and kitchens continue to be the favourite rooms to upgrade, with 29% of respondents renovating their bathroom and 26% redesigning their kitchens. Living rooms were also popular in 2023, with 26% also renovating this space.
Following last year’s significant jump in median spend for bathroom and kitchen projects, these renovations saw increases of 39% and 16% respectively, reaching £7,300 for bathrooms and £15,100 for kitchens in 2023.
However, the most popular room to decorate was the bedroom (42%) followed closely by living rooms (41%). Bathrooms and kitchens were the joint third most popular rooms to decorate, both at 31%.
It seems that homeowners are keen to make the most of their laundry rooms, with 18% of respondents saying they’d decorated this space in 2023, up from 9% in 2022.
What were homeowners doing to their kitchens?
The main drivers for kitchen renovations last year were the desire to update the room’s design and style and to improve the layout, but there was also a big rise in people wanting to improve the space for things other than just cooking. 13% of respondents said the room had been difficult to work, play or entertain in, up from 3% in previous years.
Millennials were more likely than other age groups to want to renovate their kitchen to make it more multifunctional, with 25% saying they’d renovated to improve the space for work, play and entertaining, compared to 17% of Gen X and 11% of Gen B.
Doors were a major focus, according to our survey, with nearly 40% of respondents saying they’d upgraded their exterior doors and 47% saying they’d upgraded interior doors, compared to 16% and 20%, respectively, in 2022. Windows and skylights also saw a big rise, with 46% saying they’d updated them versus just 27% in 2022.
** Generational categories follow Pew Research Center’s age ranges: Millennials (25-39), Gen Xers (40-54) and Baby Boomers (55-74).
What were homeowners doing to their bathrooms?
Bathroom renovating homeowners were again motivated by a need to improve the layout, style and finishes of their spaces.
While the purchase of new features remained consistent from the previous years, there was an increase in one particular item: the toilet. A whopping 80% of homeowners said they’d added a new loo to their bathroom compared to around 40% in each of the previous two years.
Millennials were most likely to want a new bath, with 73% fitting one last year, compared to 41% of Gen X and 36% of Gen B. Millennials were also more likely to reframe or move walls in their bathrooms, with 47% saying they’d done this versus 25% of Gen X and 19% of Gen B.
What were homeowners adding to their gardens?
While lighting remains the most popular item to upgrade in a garden, there were some interesting rises and falls in the popularity of certain features. Sheds and workshops were up from 15% in 2022 to 17% in 2023, while gazebos and pergolas rose to 11% in 2023 from 9% in 2022.
It seems that garden rooms are slightly less popular than they were in 2022, with 5% of respondents saying they’d added one in 2023 compared to 6.4% in 2022. On the other hand, hot tubs have risen in popularity over the past few years, with 4% of respondents adding or upgrading one in 2023 as opposed to 1.65% in 2021.
Another feature attracting interest from homeowners is a composting area. Indeed, 13% of renovating homeowners said they’d added or upgraded a compost zone in 2023 compared to just 9% in 2022.
What decorative features were homeowners adding to their homes?
While paint and lighting were by far the most purchased items for decorating projects, flooring, furniture, window treatments and accessories were also a major part of the decorating budget.
Interestingly, wall-to-wall carpets are becoming a popular feature among renovating homeowners, up from 4% in 2021 to 28% in 2023. At the opposite end of the scale, purchases of wallpaper fell from 31% in 2021 to 21% in 2023.
Quality was more important than price when buying decorative items last year, according to our study. In 2021, low price influenced around 49% of respondents when it came to buying most items, compared to 11% in 2023. On the other hand, quality was important for 51% of respondents last year, as opposed to 36% in 2021.
What was important for homeowners when hiring pros?
It seems that clients want to be reassured by previous customers when hiring a renovation pro, with 77% of respondents saying reviews and recommendations are a main factor in their decision.
Efficiency and transparency are also important for homeowners, with 50% saying they look for good communication and organisation skills in a renovation professionals.
Almost half of respondents said their pro had communicated with them via online tools or software, so it makes sense to have a robust system in place to ensure your clients get a satisfactory service. Take a look at the Houzz Pro Client Dashboard feature to see how it can help pros to communicate and collaborate with clients in real time and, most importantly, on the go.
Another key factor for homeowners when hiring a renovation specialist is knowing they have experience with projects similar to their own, with almost half of respondents saying this is crucial for them.
With 33% of respondents saying they’d searched for pros online, up from 24% in 2022, it’s important to make sure your website, Houzz profile and social media presence are up-to-date with all the information potential clients need in order to see whether your skills and experience match their requirements.
