Spending on DIY by UK homeowners is set to fall by ten per cent over the next three months, according to the latest findings from Alliance & Leicester's movingimproving index.

The average property owner plans to spend £1,126 on home improvements in the coming months, down ten per cent from autumn 2002, when average spending was £1,239.

DIY spend is also down 10 per cent year-on-year. In January 2002 the intended spend averaged £1,243.

Earlier findings from the movingimproving index, showed that the number of people intending to move within a year remains steady at five per cent. However, the amount of money this group is planning to spend on their property during the next three months has fallen 25 per cent, from £2,016 in October 2002 to £1,614 at the start of 2003.

The DIY spend figures indicate that homeowners are sitting tight rather than attempting to increase the value of their property with extensive home improvements.

Major home improvement projects such as new kitchens and bathrooms have become marginally less popular, but the number of homeowners intending to decorate their property has increased from 28 per cent to 33 per cent, indicating that homeowners are spending shrewdly to maintain their property.

Alliance & Leicester's quarterly movingimproving index asked a GB representative sample of 4,000 people how much they intend to spend on DIY over the next three months and which projects they intend to carry out.

Key findings:

• Overall, 45 per cent of Britons are planning a DIY project of some sort - this is down from 49 per cent in January 2002. Average intended spend on home improvements and DIY over the next three months is £1,126, down 10 per cent since autumn 2002, when intended spend in the run-up to Christmas was £1,239.
• The average intended DIY spend has also decreased 10 per cent year-on-year: in January 2002, Britons intended to spend an average of £1,243 on their properties over the subsequent three months.
• Women intend to spend marginally more than men over the next three months (£1,143 vs. £1,110). This is a reversal of the position in autumn 2002, when men intended to spend an average of £1,258 on DIY, whilst women intended to spend £1,219.
• People in their 30s continue to be the UK's biggest DIY spenders, intending to treat their properties to £1,381 of improvements. But they are also following the national trend and will spend ten per cent less than they did in autumn 2002, when they were planning on spending £1,522.
• Those in their 60's are planning to spend £815 over the next three months on DIY, up ten per cent on Autumn 2002, when their intended spend was £741.
• The gap in DIY spend between married and single Britons has widened significantly. Those who have tied the knot intend to spend £1,255 in the coming months, 45 per cent more than their footloose counterparts, who will spend £861. Both groups intend to spend less than in the autumn, when married Britons planned to spend £1,319 compared to £1,059 for single people.

Areas of spending:

• One in three (33 per cent) people are intending to spend money on decorating in the coming months, up from the 28 per cent who intended to do so before Christmas. Marginally more people are intending to spend money on painting (22 per cent vs. 21 per cent in autumn 2002).
• Fewer people are planning to install new bathrooms (six per cent down from seven per cent) or kitchens (seven per cent down from eight per cent) than they were in autumn 2002.
• Slightly fewer people are intending to take the opportunity to improve their garden: eight per cent say they will spend money on the garden during the next three months compared to nine per cent in autumn 2002.

Around the regions:

• Those living in the East Midlands will be spending the most on DIY in the coming months. They will be spending an average of £1,339, with a massive 45 per cent intending to spend money on decorating.
• People in Scotland will spend the least over the period, with the average person committing £744 to home improvements, down from £1,026 in autumn 2002.
• Although Londoners intended to spend £1,570 on DIY in the run-up to Christmas, they plan to spend only £1,036 over the next three months, a fall of 52 per cent. North-Westerners, who were autumn's biggest DIY spenders, will spend £1,142, a fall of 47 per cent from the £1,679 they spent in the autumn.
• Those in East Anglia are the most likely to be spending money on the garden in time for spring: 12 per cent said they will carry out improvements in the next three months compared with eight per cent of Britons as a whole.

Paul Cooper, Head of Mortgages at Alliance & Leicester, said:

"Although planned DIY spend has fallen, people are still committing a significant amount of money to their properties. Earlier movingimproving findings revealed that the number of people intending to move during the next year or so has remained stable.”

“However, it appears that people are spending more shrewdly on cosmetic improvements such as decorating, rather than investing in a new bathroom or kitchen which may have less of an impact on the appearance or saleability of their home."