During the pandemic, there was a mini-boom in renovations as families looked to spend their lockdown savings on improving their homes. The data shows that at the peak of that boom, in 2021, there were just over 250,000 planning applications for large renovation works.
Costs have jumped markedly since then, however. Nationwide, Britain’s second-largest mortgage lender, estimates that housing construction costs have risen by 30 per cent since the end of 2019 and Ashley Webb, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, believes the war in Iran “will push up construction costs even further”, particularly for materials such as bricks, concrete and steel.