Less home improvement jobs done by European consumers in 2014

Compared to 2013 less home improvement jobs were done in the residential market in 2014. The amount of home improvement jobs seemed to increase and stabilize during the summer, but fell down again during the autumn. December showed a small increase. Consumer confidence remained relatively stable.

By Dirk Hoogenboom
2 Feb 2015
Home Improvement,
Subscribe to the newsletter

In December 2014, 8,3% of European households performed one or more home improvement jobs. About two thirds of those jobs were Do-It-Yourself jobs, one third was done by professionals.

The home improvement share in the summer of 2014 remained on a level comparable to 2013, but the slow-down visible in September 2014 carried through in the autumn of 2014. In December 2014, slightly more home improvement jobs were done than in December 2013, but not quite enough to make up for the decline in the autumn of 2014. Whether this increase in December is predictive for the coming months or a result from the relatively mild start of winter in a large part of Europe will be monitored in the coming months.

These results are based on the latest survey of the European home improvement barometer, a month-to-month indicator for home improvement jobs in Europe based on 26,400 interviews per year in 11 European countries.