More Than Half Of Homeowners Planning Renovations In 2010
Over 57% of Irish homeowners intend on making improvements to their home at an average spend of up to €5000 within the next 12 months, an AA Home Insurance Survey of almost 11,000 people has found.
While 36.05% of respondents said they would ‘probably’ make improvements to their home within the next 12 months, 21.11% stated they would ‘definitely’ be making some changes. Among the most popular changes Irish homeowners expect to carry out are; redecoration (64.20%), a new patio or garden improvements (24.69%), and purchasing new furniture (22.49%).
Homeowners in Dublin are likely to be the biggest spenders in this period with 3.26% planning on spending more than €50,000 refurbishing their home, slightly higher than the national average of 2.83%. Meanwhile, Connacht homeowners are less likely than others to carry out home improvements in the near future, with just under 26% saying they would ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ not carry out any work.
“As we move into 2017 it appears that home improvement is high on the priority list for the majority of homeowners in Ireland. Given the increases that we have seen in house prices recently more and more existing homeowners are opting to renovate and improve their homes and avoid the cost of relocating,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs highlighted. “While renovating can indeed prove cheaper than moving home, it’s important to plan ahead and budget accordingly in order to avoid what was initially a minor improvement setting you back a small fortune.”
While redecoration was the top priority for homeowners across all age brackets, the risk of flood damage was a major concern for younger homeowners. 3.23% of those aged 17-24 who own their own home intend on carrying out flood resilience work, compared to the national average of just 0.84%.
“While we have avoided major flooding so far this winter, it appears that first-time buyers are very concerned about the risk flood-damage may pose in the future. While it’s important to keep your insurance provider up to date on any renovations you carry out, this is particularly true for renovations designed to reduce your home’s risk of flooding as being seen as a lower flood risk may have reduce your premium,” Faughnan added.
Despite women being slightly more likely than men to make improvements to their home within the next 12 months, with 58.55% stating they would ‘probably’ or ‘definitely’ make some upgrades compared to 55.6% of men, they intend to spend less in doing so. Of those intending to upgrade their home, just over 15% of women plan on spending more than €10,000 on home improvements. Meanwhile, almost 1 in 5 men (19.08%) plan on admitted that then intend on spending in excess of €10,000 improving their home.