EUROPEAN HOME IMPROVEMENT JOBS MORE OFTEN DONE BY CONSUMERS

In 2017 the European consumer more often decided to do a home improvement job by themselves. About two thirds of the home improvement jobs in Europe is conducted by the consumer and a third is conducted by a professional. The growth of the share of DIY jobs is the highest in Spain and the growth of the share of DIFM jobs is the highest in Denmark. USP Marketing Consultancy has been monitoring the European home improvement market since 2013. One of the recurring topics in these reports is the share of DIY vs. DIFM. This article is based on 26,400 online interviews with European consumers, which have resulted in the European Home Improvement Monitor Q4 2017 report.

By Reinier Zuydgeest 
1 Feb 2018
Home Improvement,

Highest growth of DIY jobs in Belgium, Germany and Spain

The European trend towards more DIFM is visible in most of the 11 researched countries. The countries in which the growth of the share of DIY jobs is the highest are Germany (+8%), Belgium (+6%) and  Spain (+5%). A possible explanation for this growth could be that hiring a professional is becoming more expensive. During the economic recession USP Marketing Consultancy noticed an increase in DIFM jobs in Spain as a result of cheap labour. Apparently USP Marketing Consultancy have seen an opposite effect in the previous year.

Share of DIFM jobs increases in Denmark, Italy and Sweden

A growth of DIFM jobs occurred in Denmark (+5%), Italy (+4%) and Sweden (+3%). In the other 5 European countries the share of DIY vs. DIFM remained quite stable.

Most enthusiastic consumers in France, Belgium and Poland

Overall the French, Belgian and Polish consumers are the most enthusiastic Do-It-Yourselfers since more than 70% of the home improvement jobs are being done by the consumer in these countries.

Conclusion

The share of DIY in home improvement jobs has increased in 2017 in comparison with 2016. A possible explanation for this is that the baby boom generation is still able to conduct home improvement jobs themselves and the fact that younger generations are often not able to finance a professional to do the home improvement job for them. Another explanation is that in some countries there’s a shortage of professionals in the renovation market, which results in higher prices. This leads do different choices by consumers in their home improvement projects, they choose DIY instead of DIFM. In Germany the growth of DIY jobs is the biggest and the biggest growth of DIFM jobs in the home improvement market is in Denmark. In the long run however, USP Marketing Consultancy expects that the share of Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) jobs will grow due to the aging population in Europe.

Source: https://www.usp-mc.nl/en/article/569/european-home-improvement-jobs-more-often-done-by-consumers/