The Home Improvement Index 2024
Regional Profiles: North West
South Lakeland, Trafford, and Ribble Valley top the 2023 regional table, as they often do. But, perhaps, more interesting is the rise of Rossendale into the top 10. In many ways this epitomises the flight to the country seen during the pandemic. It has plenty of open spaces. But it also has good access to local towns and cities being nestled between the M65 and M62.
North West - Change in applications by type 2022 & 2023
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The region saw a bigger fall than most in applications last year and since 2019 it has been among the weakest performers, although it did see a rise in house prices which is a positive signal. And the region’s economic activity and earnings growth over recent years could be described as middling when compared to other parts of Britain.
There has been a drop of 17% in applications for extensions since 2019. But, despite recent falls from the 2021 peak, applications for loft works in 2023 were up 11% on the 2019 level. Applications for garden works and buildings were also up in 2023 on the 2019 level by more than 20%.
North West - Regional Home improvement apps per 1k private homes
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Applications for solar panels were relatively strong again
in 2023. And while the applications citing insulation were down in 2023, the
level remains more than double that seen before the pandemic. Also, the raised
appetite for home offices driven by rising working from home is being
sustained, albeit more muted than in 2021 and 2022.
North West - Average House price at Dec 2023 & annual change
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North West - Top 10 districts for home improvement
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*The rankings are based on the number of home improvement applications, as defined by Barbour ABI (see methodology), per 1,000 private homes. Given the impacts of the pandemic, 2023 is compared with 2019 as benchmark.
North West - Share of regional applications involving key types in 2023
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*Note: A single application may include any number of the above key types
North West - Regional spending on alterations and improvement to homes over 2021 and 2022
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Source: ONS Family Expenditure Survey.
Caveat: The data can vary significantly year to year given sample the sizes. This is partially smoothed in our use of the data by taking an average over two years.
