Spending on home maintenance and repair increased by 5.8% in 2004, from £14.5bn in 2003 to £15.4bn. In 'real' terms (i.e. after allowance for the increase in prices), there was a 4.1% rise in spending in 2004, said Halifax.

And the cost of home maintenance and repair has more than doubled in the last 20 years after allowing for the effects of inflation, said the firm.

But within total spending on home maintenance and repair, there has been a significantly greater rise in spending on DIY materials and tools (134%) during the past 20 years than on the services of tradesmen such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters and decorators, which has increased by 51%.

However, the cost of services provided by tradesmen has risen by 204% since 1984. This is almost double the rise in the retail price index (109%). It also comfortably exceeds the 62% rise in the price of cars, but is well below the 374% increase in house prices since 1984.

Regions

Regionally, households in the South East spend the most on home maintenance and repair with an average annual expenditure of £634, followed by households in Northern Ireland who spend, on average, £548. Families in the North East (£370) and Scotland (£397) spend the least.

Households in the South East spend the most on home maintenance and repair with an average annual household expenditure of £634, followed by households in Northern Ireland who spend an average £548 a year.

Households in the South West, East Midlands and London spend between £535 and £540 annually, on average, compared with the UK average of £499.

Families in the North East (£370) and Scotland (£397) spend the least on home maintenance and repair.

Spending on home improvements accounts for 17.1% of average household expenditure on housing and household goods in Northern Ireland compared with 11.5% in London. The UK average is 14.4%.

Spending

Household spending on home maintenance and repair has risen by 25% over the past five years, outstripping the 17% increase in total consumer spending between 1999 and 2004.

Spending on home maintenance and repair has more than doubled (105%) in the last 20 years. Spending on materials and tools for DIY has increased by 32% since 1999, almost twice the rise in total consumer spending over the same period.

There has been only an 8% increase in spending on the services of tradesmen in the past five years. Spending on the services provided by tradesmen in 2004 was just 2% higher than in 1994 with a decline in spending in five of the past 10 years.

Costs

The costs of home maintenance and repair (excluding tools) have risen by 16% since 1999, twice the increase in the cost of all goods and services bought by consumers. This rise has been driven by a 37% increase in the fees charged by tradesmen. Material costs, by contrast, have risen by only 4% over the past five years. The prices of tools have fallen by 7% since 1999.

Tradesmen costs have risen by 204% in the past 20 years, double the rise in the price of all consumer goods and services.

The costs of materials (81%) and tools (44%) have increased more slowly than the costs of all consumer goods and services (102%) since 1984.

 Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist, commented: "There has certainly been a boom in spending on home maintenance and repairs over the past 20 years with a doubling in spending since 1984. Most of this increase has been in the form of DIY with households increasingly doing jobs around the home themselves. Although we are now doing more jobs ourselves, the actual amount of work done by tradesmen on home maintenance and repairs last year was almost identical to that in 1994."