Renovation Nation: Aussies planning to spend $34 billion on home renovations in next 6 months

• Homeowners list record number of tradie jobs on hipages

• 64% of homeowners plan to use pandemic savings on home improvement

• 47% of homeowners plan to spend $1-10k on their home in the next six months 

• 65% are planning renovations within the next six months

1 November 2021 (Sydney, Australia) – As millions of Australians emerge from months of lockdown, many industries expect to see a steep increase in work, and this is especially the case for the tradie industry. 

Australia’s largest online tradie marketplace, hipages, has today revealed its hipages Home Improvement Dollar Report, unveiling that 83% of Australians were saving an average of $1,183 per month during the COVID lockdown period. Approximately two thirds (64%) of homeowners are planning to use these savings on home maintenance, improvement, repairs or renovations.  

The research, conducted by Thrive Insights, surveyed 1,005 homeowners aged 30 – 65 years to measure consumer sentiment toward home improvement post-COVID lockdowns.

When asked how much they plan to spend overall on home improvements over the next six months, 47% noted between $1,000 – $10,000, with a median planned spend of $5,000 per household. This offers Australian tradies a whopping $34 billion worth of potential jobs across the nation. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has observed similar figures with the value of residential building approvals between March – August 2021 totalling $48.5 billion. 

Many Australians may also be on the hunt for a tradie to repair lockdown DIY fails. At the time of the survey, almost half of respondents (40%) had attempted a repair or renovation by themselves before seeking help from a tradie during lockdown. A total of 21% admitted they had to hire a tradie to fix their dodgy DIY, resulting in an average spend of $2,934. 

With an average of one home improvement job posted by homeowners on its platform every 20 seconds, hipages wants to highlight the job opportunities currently up for grabs for tradies. Now is the perfect time for tradies looking to branch out and start their own business, to do so. 

It pays to be a tradie with record jobs numbers up for the taking 

Roby Sharon-Zipser, hipages Co-Founder and CEO says, “With many trades being “tools down” for months due to COVID-19 restrictions, 34% of homeowners have put off their home repair or renovation plans. However, we have already seen the bounceback in activity that we expected, with record job volumes on our platform this month. Consumer confidence is high, especially in New South Wales, with similar trends expected in Victoria. 

“The hipages Home Improvement Dollar Report has indicated that 65% of homeowners are planning renovations or repairs for their home within the next six months. This makes now the perfect time for tradies to leverage hipages, a lead platform to easily build their pipeline and network. The jobs are there for the taking.”

While many homeowners are planning to spend big on their homes, only 24% have engaged a tradie for these jobs even though 35% say they are confident in starting a major renovation in the next month or so. According to the report, when seeking tradies, the most important decision factors for homeowners are someone who is local (63%), provides fast response with quotes (62%) and has positive online reviews (58%), with 61% of homeowners saying they would hire through a tradie sourcing app. 

This is an opportune time for tradies to secure job leads and book in a solid pipeline of work from now through to early next year. Hayden Wattley, Sydney-based electrician from Wattley Air Conditioning and Electrical joined hipages in 2020, starting his business when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Australia. “2020 was definitely an interesting year to start a business, especially as it wasn’t long before restrictions and lockdowns were put in place meaning that the work we could or couldn’t do was changing day to day. I’ve used hipages throughout this time which helps me generate 75% of my business leads. These have all been quality jobs which have ensured a steady flow of work even throughout uncertain times,” says Mr Wattley

hipages data has revealed Australia’s top suburb per state where home improvement and renovation jobs are already soaring on its platform, needing qualified trades to take up job leads. 

ACT Kambah                                 NSW Kellyville

NT Alawa                                        QLD Buderim

SA Adelaide                                   TAS Launceston

VIC Point Cook                              WA Baldivis

Love It or List It

Though we love our homes, there’s always room for improvement and 66% of Australians would rather renovate than buy a new property. The biggest reason to renovate is because most homeowners already love where they live (55%) and believe they can increase the value of their current home with renovations and improvements (50%). 

Across the states, Queensland homeowners are most likely (65%) to prefer their current location as the number one reason for renovating over moving with West Australians the most keen to add value to their current homes (56%).  Amongst those Australians who plan on spending on home improvement, 40% are aiming to add over $10,000 in value, though only 23% plan to spend that much. 

Homeowners who experienced lockdown have taken the time to reconsider layout and space within their homes; 

• 28% say lockdowns prompted them to make renovations or changes to their home
• 25% say lockdowns made them reconsider the layout of their home
• 17% say lockdowns made them consider adding extra space to their home, such as a granny flat or an extension
• 15% added/created a home office space during lockdowns

Almost half of homeowners would prioritise the kitchen (24%) or bathroom (20%) for renovations to add value to their home. In the immediate three months, handyman for odd jobs / general repairs (25%), landscaping/gardening (24%) and painting (21%) are top of the list for homeowners preparing for Christmas and summer holidays. 

– ENDS –

Notes to Editors

About the research

Survey of 1,005 Australian homeowners aged 30 – 65 years. Commissioned by hipages; executed by Thrive Insights. The survey aims to measure consumer sentiment toward home improvement post-COVID restrictions / lockdowns,  conducted between 27 September 2021 – 6 October 2021.

About hipages 

With one job posted every 20 seconds on average, hipages is Australia’s largest online tradie marketplace that connects Australians with trusted tradies to simplify home improvement. As the leader in the On-Demand Tradie Economy, based on jobs posted, our aim is to create a seamless experience for both tradies and homeowners. For homeowners, hipages provides a better, smarter way to connect with local tradies to get the job done well. For tradies, the platform helps them grow their business by providing quality leads from their customers looking for a specific trade. To date, over three million Australians have changed the way they find, hire and manage trusted tradies with hipages, ultimately providing more work to the 31,000-plus tradies subscribed to the platform. The hipages app is available for download on the App Store and Google Play.  www.hipages.com.au