Home maintenance

24 Sep 2019

We asked 2,000 homeowners about how much they spend on home maintenance, from unexpected emergencies to everyday wear and tear.

We found:

  • Most people (92%) set some money aside to spend on property emergencies
  • 23% of people say they don’t have the time to deal with maintenance issues
  • More than a quarter of people admitted to ignoring minor faults around the home until they become bigger, potentially serious, problems 
  • A fifth deliberately turn a blind eye so they can spend money on other things
  • One in 10 say they ignore problems in the hope that someone else will deal with them
  • If faced with an unexpected bill of £5,000 for essential maintenance due to wear and tear, 58% of homeowners told us they would be able to cover the cost from savings
  • A small number of respondents mistakenly would expect their home insurance to foot the bill of damage resulting from wear and tear, revealing confusion about what home insurance protects.

Download the survey

Download the survey

Further reading

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