Why did homeowners renovate their properties last year, how much were they spending, and which pros were they hiring? Our latest Houzz & Home Study* reveals the answer to these questions and more, with insights from homeowners about their renovation activity during 2023 and 2024. Read on to find out the latest renovation trends.
*The 2025 UK Houzz & Home Study was sent to registered users of Houzz and fielded in March 2025.
Read the full report.
How were homeowners renovating their homes last year – and how much were they spending?
More than half of the homeowners who responded to the 2025 Houzz & Home Study renovated their homes in 2024 (51%) and the median spend rose from £17,000 in 2023 to £21,440 in 2024, a 20% increase. Those on a higher budget (10%) spent £169,000 or more on home renovations.
“While rising costs for goods and services are influencing renovation spend, activity remains stable,” Houzz staff economist Marine Sargsyan says. “With almost half of homeowners planning renovations, it’s evident that the need to update ageing housing stock continues to fuel demand for home improvements.”
We can see this in the data, which reveals that 61% of respondents live in homes built in 1940 or earlier, and three in five homeowners are planning to stay in their homes for at least 11 years following their project. These older properties are perhaps the reason why 39% of respondents carried out home repairs last year, with almost two in five upgrading electrical systems and a wide number updating their plumbing and heating.
What made homeowners decide to renovate in 2024?
For those survey respondents who renovated their kitchen or bathroom in 2024, the overwhelming motivation came from a desire to update the design of the space and upgrade outdated finishes. Room size and storage were also factors, with 31% saying the former influenced their decision to make their kitchen bigger, and 26% citing the latter as their motivation.
Many bathroom renovators wanted to change the layout of their space, with 32% saying they renovated in order to tackle this, while 26% told us they were keen to deal with plumbing, electrical and HVAC issues.
When asked why they chose 2024 as the year to carry out their renovations, 36% said they’d wanted to do it all along and finally had the financial means, while 33% said they finally had the time.
Which type of pros were homeowners hiring last year?
The top categories were those necessary pros that are needed no matter the size of a job – plumbers, electricians, carpenters and painters. Just under a third of renovating homeowners, meanwhile, hired a builder for their project, while a quarter called on the services of an architect. A similar number hired either a kitchen or bathroom specialist, or someone to help with window treatments.
Interestingly, cabinet-makers are becoming more popular with renovators, as the number of survey respondents hiring one jumped from 19% in 2023 to 27% in 2024. “The enquiries we seem to be getting the most of are for bookcases and multimedia TV areas,” cabinet-maker Ian Capstick of Capstick Furniture says. “And our finishing shop is busy spraying a massive variety of colours on our own projects and people’s existing furniture.”
How did homeowners choose their renovation professionals in 2024?
The biggest influence on choice of renovation specialist, according to our survey respondents, was recommendations and reviews. So it really does pay to ask happy customers to leave a review on your online platforms, so potential clients can be reassured by the testimonials.
The second most important factor for the renovators we surveyed was that the pro had experience with the scope of projects similar to their own, with exactly half saying this was key. The owners of this tiny kitchen (pictured), for instance, hired Natasha Burton of NB Interiors UK because they’d seen on her Houzz profile that she’d worked on another small kitchen.
This factor was closely followed by communication and organisation skills, with 45% of respondents citing this as the deciding factor.
Are renovation pros using technology to help with projects?
According to the report, many pros are making the most of tech tools to aid the renovation process. For example, 45% of participants said their pro used technology to communicate with them, while 42% told us that technology helped them visualise the end result.
It’s worth exploring the ways Houzz Pro can help with client communication and project management, as you can use the software to create schedules and timelines, which can be shared with your client via the Client Dashboard. The homeowner can access the dashboard at any time to see updates, daily logs, visualisation tools such as floor plans and mood boards, plus any tasks that have been assigned to them, to keep the project moving forwards.
