Kbb News - Accoridng to B&Q’s The Way We Live Now Report, the majority of UK homeowners are saying that they would rather renovate their current home than move.
This key finding of B&Q’s The Way We Live Now Report, was a result of some 3,000 members of the British public being surveyed, to find out about their living and home ownership habits.
The key finding was that two thirds of the UK homeowners (61%) being surveyed, reportedly plan to stay in their current home for five years or more and renovate, rather than move as B&Q says that people are now more focused on creating their dream home.
When asked about what home renovation projects they had undertaken, or planned to undertake, the most frequently mentioned renovation involved major building works (such as an extension) with a quarter of surveyed participants saying that they had or were about to renovate their home in this way. 11% of participants stated that they had built an extra bathroom, and the same percentage said they had converted their attic into an additional living space or bedroom.
Slower Housing Market?
Looking at why these home renovations had been completed almost half (46%) of the surveyed participants said that the extra building works to add an extension or bedroom/bathroom etc were due to them having a family with older children whom were still living at home.
As the mortgage market and housing markets are still somewhat depressed amid high interest rates and economic uncertainty it will come as no surprise that the number of first-time buyers is still down, therefore resulting in more adult children staying with their parents for longer.
Bad credit mortgage specialist AdverseOnline noted that although first-time buyer mortgage applications are still down from their peak in 2020, they did improve in 2024 and last year accounted for 28.7% of the total mortgage activity, which is a big rise from 23.3% in 2023 and 22.3% in 2022.
Speaking about the key finding of B&Q’s The Way We Live Now Report, Graham Bell, the CEO of B&Q explained “This year’s report reveals that more people are choosing to love and not list their home...They’re opting to stay where they are and embrace the idea of transforming and creating a home for life."
Bell added, “We’re seeing homeowners have more confidence to undertake radical transformations – bedrooms being moved downstairs, garden rooms becoming annexes with separate entrances, walls going up, and others coming down. As ways of living are reimagined, home footprints are re-laid, and life gets better – whether it’s accommodating a need driven by living alone, or with immediate or extended family.”
Andrew Dillon of Studio5, the NW Schuller kitchens retailer mirrored the renovation key finding to B&Q’s The Way We Live Now Report. Andrew said "Whilst 2023 was a quiet year in kitchens, we did see a rebound in 2024 at the interest rates started to drop as most people used to put a kitchen on their credit card and then remortgage once complete but the interest rates rising saw many people delay their new kitchen and in late 2024 and early 2025, we have noticed that more and more building works are being included in our customers renovation jobs and whilst we are a Schuller kitchens retailer we also sell bedrooms and will be increasing our offering to bathrooms this year to accommodate the increases in multi room renovation projects."
Not Just Homeowners Paying for Renovations & Improvements
It’s not just homeowners though. We have seen a change in attitudes amongst tenants. As the barriers to buying in the UK remain high, we are seeing renters ask more of their landlords, with many willing to chip in on major changes (72%). Currently two thirds of renters feel that they won’t ever be able to afford to buy a home, but this isn’t necessarily a negative. Contrary to commonly held opinions, 96% of tenants have an amicable relationship with their landlord, 88% think of their home as their sanctuary and 86% love their home, even if they don’t own it.
