Data reveals average home renovation goes £3,024 over budget and takes three months longer than expected to complete

Toolstation surveyed 1,003 people who completed a large-scale home renovation in the last five years, with the help of trade professionals.

• The kitchen was voted the most stressful room to renovate (49%)
• Nearly a quarter of respondents said that their renovation was not completed on time, going an average of three months over the initial timescale. These figures differed across the UK, with renovations taking six months longer in Norwich.
• Over half of respondents said that their renovation project went over budget and the average extra cost came out as £3,024. This also differed across the UK, with renovations costing an extra £4,378 for those in London.
• The biggest regret was revealed to be ‘Underestimating the likelihood of problems arising that require more time and more money’ (31%)
• 60% of respondents said that their finances were the most affected during the renovation process, along with their general wellbeing.

Whether you’re renovating one room or the entire house, a lot goes into the process to achieve the perfect result; a home that truly reflects your personal taste and style. Despite it being such a celebrated and awaited finish, often renovators look back at aspects of their process with feelings of regret – and they also learn things along the way that they would do for next time.

Many people opt to renovate their home, whether it’s to endorse their personal taste or to keep up with modern interior trends. With renovating being such a hectic time, hearing the regrets of others is a great way to provide the gift of hindsight which will help future renovators avoid mistakes and be left with nothing but a perfect finish.

To better prepare future renovators on their project, Toolstation surveyed over 1000 renovators to gather data from those in the know on the most common regrets, stresses, and mistakes.

You can view the full piece here.

The most stressful rooms to renovate

According to Toolstation’s respondents, the kitchen is the most stressful room to renovate for close to half (49%). When looking across regions, Brighton came out on top as the most stressed city when it came to renovating their kitchen (70%). This could be due to several reasons – from the amount of equipment, accessories and utensils that need to be packed up, to the loss of cooking facilities and disrupted routines around work and school. This could especially be the case for young families.

The second most stressful room to renovate was voted as the bathroom (22%). In this case, Norwich was the city that agreed the most (36%). Renovating your bathroom can be stressful for several reasons – from having to choose from a wide range of designs and layouts, to plumbing issues, to, of course, being without a toilet/bath/shower.

Not too far behind the bathroom was the living room/lounge (9%). Belfast and Northern Ireland both came out on top as the cities who found the living room the most stressful. The living room plays a huge part in our lives. As a room meant for relaxation, living amongst renovation is bound to cause stress.

The regions who overspent the most on time and money

Spilling Over Budget

Over half of the survey’s respondents stated that they went over budget (55%), with the average amount being just over £3,024. This differs across regions, with London being the city that splashes their cash the most, going an average of £4,378 over budget.

Cardiff isn’t too far behind, going over budget by £3,041.

Brighton came out as the best money managers, with the average overspend coming in at £1,070.

16% of those surveyed in Greater London revealed that their budget was blown between £7,001-£10,000.

Working past deadlines

Close to a quarter of those surveyed stated that their renovation was not completed on time. Most people were found to be, on average, three months over, but this differed across regions. In Norwich, renovations were found to take, on average, six months longer, and four months in Southampton and Leeds.

Out of those going over budget, Sheffield, Belfast and Bristol were all found to be the best keepers of time, only going over by an average of one month. Overall, 22% of the East Midlands were found to only go over by 1-6 days. Delays can be put to a range of renovation issues – from problems finding trustworthy tradespeople, equipment to waiting for furniture/utilities. External factors could also cause delays, from extreme weather, financial problems and of course, events like the recent pandemic.

Regrets and Affects

Toolstation’s survey revealed some of the most common regrets amongst renovators, and it turns out that the biggest regret was underestimating the likelihood of problems arising that require more time and more money (31%). This can be easily connected to the percentage of people that go so over budget to cover the costs of unpredicted problems and expenses. Over a quarter of respondents (26.12%) admitted they had to borrow money from family/friends to help finish their renovations due to changes and unpredicted aspects throughout their project. And nearly 50% (49%) of people changed aspects of their renovation whilst in the process of completing it, which can contribute to the amount of people exceeding their timescales and wanting more time to complete their projects.

The second biggest regret was revealed to be living at home during the renovation (27%). This can be due to several factors including essentially living in a building site and your everyday routine being majorly disrupted, to not being able to relax in your home since the process can take so long.

Following this, 16% of people agreed that focusing too much on aesthetics over functionality and durability, completing the work themselves rather than calling in a professional and picking the cheapest quote over the most capable tradesperson/company were their biggest regrets.

For more information on what recent renovators would change for next time, head over to the full study here: https://www.toolstation.com/content/renovation-regrets