Home improvements on the increase

07/07/11

By Emma Sword

An increasing number of people are choosing to improve their homes due to the lack of mortgage availability, a survey has revealed.

Homeowners may be turning to DIY to update their properties because they are unable to move, the poll by Sainsbury's Finance found.

It said that 21 per cent of its loans were being used to carry out home renovations, a slight rise on last year and up from 14.1 per cent in 2007.

The figures show that people are still investing in their homes despite the squeeze on people's finances.

The mortgage drought since the credit crunch has led to an "improve not move" trend, as many homeowners are unable to move up the property ladder.

Steven Baillie, head of loans at Sainsbury's Finance, said: "People's decision to invest more in their homes could be due to a number of reasons, perhaps some are aiming to increase the value of their home, or maybe others have been unable to move up the property ladder so are improving their existing home until they can do so."