Abstract
Interest in doing DIY has undoubtedly waned for a variety of reasons. Increasingly, the desire or indeed need to improve the home is not necessarily dependent on consumers actually carrying out the job themselves. Thus, there is now a distinction between home improvement and DIY. This report examines the level of interest in DIY, which DIY jobs people feel they need help with and which ones they will tackle themselves.
DIY stores are evolving and metamorphosing from their pseudo trade image into providing softer and more design-orientated environments. They are therefore attracting two different groups of consumers: those who are willing to tackle larger jobs and those who are confined to changing some of the easier more aesthetic elements in their home. As a result DIY is now more segmented between repair and enhancement and this report examines how consumers fall into these categories.
Key themes of the report:
- Types of project consumers plan to do in the next three years and how this will determine which areas of DIY are likely to perform best.
- How consumers are seeking help with projects and whether there is sufficient skilled help available at reasonable prices.
- Is changing media coverage of DIY/home improvements a symptom or cause of changing levels of interest?
- The state of the housing market has always been seen as fundamental to consumers' motivation for DIY. Will the market be further damaged as prices slow?
- Whether enthusiasm for DIY may have faded because consumers have found other more pleasurable ways of spending both their time and money.
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