UK homeowners get cold feet when it comes to hiring tradesmen, according to Plentific.com’s survey. 87% of homeowners fear hiring tradesmen, and their key concern seems to be finding a reliable professional. 59% said their biggest hurdle is finding a tradesman that they know for certain can do their job properly. The nation is relatively relaxed about projects sticking to a timeline; homeowners were more keen on getting their projects done to a high standard. A fifth (19%) get concerns about their work being completed on time, with half (51%) fearing that their finished project will not meet with expectations.
The region with the most confident homeowners was the South West, with 19% of local homeowners replying that they had no concerns about hiring a tradesman. This is a big contrast to concerned Londoners, of which only 5% said they felt completely comfortable doing so. There was a lot of variation at regional level. The biggest worry in Brighton was getting ripped off, as 74% of local respondents said they feared their job would be unfairly overpriced; a much higher statistic than the national average of 51%. When it came down to trusting tradesmen in the home whilst on the job, the cities with the biggest fear factor were Cardiff (45%), Liverpool (44%) and Manchester (40%), which all showed greater concern than the national average (33%).
Age also appeared to divide confidence levels on certain issues, with 68% of homeowners aged 55 and over voicing concerns about the reliability of tradesmen, compared to 45% of respondents under 35.
Cem Savas, Co-Founder of Plentific.com, said: “Our survey shows why homeowners may hold back when hiring a Pro without seeing proper verification. These days people need more than just word-of-mouth recommendation, which is why we created Plentific. We’re here to change the way people feel about hiring a trade professional. We provide a transparent marketplace with verified and customer-rated trade professionals, our guarantee and a secure payment service, enabling homeowners to feel confident about getting their job done.”
