As the credit crunch rumbles on, more homeowners in the UK are abandoning their plans to carry out major renovation work on their properties, it has been revealed.
According to Sainsbury's Home Insurance, while 3.27 million Britons plan to undertake such structural work on their homes over the next 12 months, this is a 39 per cent fall from the fifth of people who said they had such plans last year.
Of the 13 per cent of homeowners who do plan to makeover their house, the most popular work is a loft conversion, followed by a side extension and a garage conversion.
Joanne Mallon, Sainsbury's Home Insurance manager, commented on the findings: "In the current housing climate, creating extra space in your home is another option for those who have maybe decided to put their plans to move on hold."
However, while fewer homeowners plan to carry out major structural changes on their properties, they may wish to make an investment in energy efficiency in order to achieve
cheaper gas and electricity bills.
Such work may include improving
insulation or paying for a greener central heating system, which may include solar panels or a ground source heat pump.
