There are already strong signs of recovery within the trade industry across Mansfield and Ashfield as more people look to get work done in their homes now that coronavirus restrictions are being eased.

A new report says that there are signs pointing to homeowners wanting to revamp their homes and gardens after spending so much time in their own properties.

More people are wanting jobs done than before lockdown – already a lot of outside work is being done and householders are now more confident to have tradespeople in their homes for repair, maintenance and improvement work.

That all means decorators, builders, plumbers, plasterers, flooring specialists, gardeners and roofers can be looking at getting back to some sort of normality.

Rated People, which allows homeowners to post jobs for which tradespeople can search for leads, reports that there are “strong signs of recovery within the trade industry”.

It added that jobs are nearly back to their pre-lockdown level and there’s high demand for particular trades, like gardening where jobs are actually up 5% compared to this time last year.

Adrienne Minster, from Rated People, has taken a look at how the tradespeople industry has changed throughout the lockdown within the Midlands and looked at how they expect the industry to look as we ease out.

How is the tradespeople industry looking in the Midlands now that lockdown has eased?

The trades industry is making a strong recovery in the Midlands. As of this week, we’ve seen homeowners posting more jobs than they were at the start of March before we got close to entering lockdown! Jobs are up 4% overall which is great.

There’s a lot of outside work going on with homeowners improving their outside spaces – we have 4x the number of tree surgery jobs in the Midlands thanks to the recent windy weather and people looking to get more sun in their gardens (which is a lot more than we’re seeing in the rest of the UK which is up by 2x). Window fitting jobs are popular too, they have risen by 140%.

How has it performed throughout the lockdown?

The Midlands has followed a similar pattern to the rest of the UK throughout lockdown. We saw job posts halve after we went into lockdown, with tilers, bricklayers, builders, bathroom fitters and painters and decorators being among the worst hit trades – jobs were down 70-80% for them. Trades where the majority of the work happens inside the home and is non-emergency were the hardest hit, understandably.

As the weeks have gone on, the number of jobs being posted by homeowners each week has been steadily climbing in the Midlands as homeowners have become more confident about having work done.

What areas have suffered the most/least in the Midlands?

It’s been a similar story for different areas, it’s the mix of job posts that have been the most interesting to follow.

Trades that work inside the home have suffered the most, as have trades where the work is to improve the home’s appearance rather than being an emergency or other time-sensitive repair work that needed doing.

Tilers, bricklayers, builders, bathroom fitters and painters and decorators have suffered the most in the Midlands, with jobs starting off around 70-80% down as we went into lockdown. At the moment, cleaners and bathroom fitters are seeing the slowest recovery – they’re currently 35-55% down, with cleaners at the sharper end of that.

We’re also seeing the season and the warmer weather slow jobs for heating engineers with jobs around 50% down for them. It’s easy to forget about our heating when the weather’s lovely and warm even though it’s the best time of year to get your annual boiler serviced!

Outdoor trades like gardening and tree surgery have fared the best. They took less of an initial hit after lockdown, with homeowners posting 5-10% fewer jobs, and we’re seeing a boost in the number of jobs for them. We’ve got 4x the number of tree surgery jobs and gardening jobs are 65% up too. Another outside trade, window fitting, is doing well, with 140% more jobs being posted.

Across the UK, we’ve seen driveway paving and bricklaying be particularly popular. We’re all adapting to a new way of living and people are having to re-think and reinvent their space as they start to work from home, perhaps they’re home schooling their children and are wanting to enjoy their outside spaces more.

How has the tradespeople industry in the Midlands compared to the rest of the UK?

The Midlands has followed a similar pattern to the rest of the UK. We saw job posts halve after we went into lockdown, with tilers, bricklayers, builders, bathroom fitters and painters and decorators being among the worst hit trades – jobs were down 70-80% for them.

While the overall trends have been the same with outdoor work doing particularly well, we’ve seen some differences in the popularity of different trades recently as the industry recovers. Driveway paving jobs have had a big boost in the UK – they’re currently up 2x, and bricklaying jobs are up by 50%. We’re also seeing more of a seasonal influence come into play with pest control jobs up 30%.

In the midlands, tree surgery and window fitting jobs are seeing some of the biggest increases at 4x and 140%. They’re up in the UK too at 2x for tree surgery and 15% for window fitting, so while strong, they haven’t risen quite as sharply! Floor fitting is doing particularly well too in comparison, with jobs up 35% compared to 15% in the UK.

How do you see the industry looking for the rest of the year?

We’re seeing really strong signs of recovery within the trade industry. Jobs are nearly back to their pre-lockdown level and there’s high demand for particular trades like gardening. Gardening jobs are actually up 5% compared to this time last year!

All signs point to homeowners wanting to revamp their homes and gardens after having spent so much time indoors looking at the same four walls. Many have been saving money by not commuting to work or spending it on other activities and they now appear to be putting some of that money back into their homes.

Given the time of year, we expect even more homeowners to be revamping their outside spaces over the next couple of months, before quickly moving on to improving their interiors.

If they posted one of the 20,000 gardening jobs we’ve had since lockdown, they may already be thinking about what their next interior project might be. Bathroom renovations and extensions are always popular with homeowners looking to enjoy their homes and increase their value.