Fears over costs and 'cowboy' builders deter owners from repairing their homes

Based on household surveys and inspections conducted in England and Scotland, the study finds that most home owners identify routine repairs that are needed on their properties without difficulty. Yet they often miss more complex, technical problems or else delay too long before taking action.

Difficulty affording repairs was a particular problem among older people and those on low incomes who were interviewed. But this was not the only reason why owners delayed or avoided carrying out essential maintenance work.

• Owners rarely sought advice from surveyors or other building professionals in diagnosing repair problems. Experience of the limited, valuation surveys required by mortgage lenders had left some with the impression that a surveyor's report would be expensive and uninformative.
• Few kept any systematic maintenance plan for their property. Most relied on themselves, relatives, friends or informal contacts in the building trade to identify problems.
• Owners were often poorly informed about the long-term costs of neglecting or delaying certain types of maintenance. Failure to recognise the urgency of repairs led to delays where prompt action would have saved money or prevented the problem getting worse.
• Difficulties finding a trustworthy and competent builder were another reason for postponing work. Owners mentioned bad experiences with 'cowboy' builders, including delays, poor workmanship, unreliable estimates, unacceptable behaviour, failure to clear up and unwillingness to deal with subsequent snags among their reasons for being wary. First-time buyers, recent movers and single women householders were especially unlikely to have dependable builder contacts.
• Owners were reluctant to borrow money for building repairs. Emergency repairs posed special problems for low-income households without savings. The work done was more likely to be botched through patch-work DIY, or else neglected.

Even among middle-income owners, cost was a major constraint on property maintenance. But the timing of repair work reflected householders' preferences and spending priorities as well as incomes and savings. Some of those interviewed on very low incomes had found ways to pay for routine maintenance, while others who were more prosperous considered there were more important things on which to spend their money.

In addition, the report identifies a number of 'pressure points' in terms of length of residence in a property and the owner's own age when difficulties in tackling repairs are more likely to arise. These include young families with competing demands on their spending and older 'empty nest' owners whose children have grown up and who are now uncertain whether to move or stay put.

Recommendations

Professor Philip Leather of South Bank University and Professor Moira Munro of Heriot-Watt University, the authors of the report, call for action by government, mortgage lenders and others to raise awareness of the importance of keeping homes in good repair - especially among first-time buyers and owners who have lived in the same house for many years. Information and advice on maintenance problems and how best to deal with them would be made more widely available.

Another aim would be to make it easier for owners to find a trustworthy builder. Short-term measures could include a recommendation scheme for the industry, based on stringent vetting and a disputes mechanism. In the longer term, government and the building industry would act together to raise standards through training and other means

The report also identifies a role for new commercial products:

• Savings or insurance policies specifically designed to cover the costs of home repairs and maintenance.
• A value-for-money survey identifying necessary repair work on properties and providing owners with useful information about priorities and likely costs.