Latest Research from Barbour ABI Shows Westminster Tops the List for Home Improvers in London, with Kensington & Chelsea Coming in Second

CHESHIRE OAKS, England, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



Top of the districts for home improvements in London is Westminster, according to the latest research into planning applications in the Capital by expert provider of market intelligence for the Built Environment, Barbour ABI.  Kensington & Chelsea came second on the list.

Barbour ABI's new analysis across the English regions, Scotland and Wales, is being revealed tomorrow at property and construction industry show Ecobuild in London (5-7 March 2013 at ExCel).

In 2012 Westminster Council received more than seven applications for home improvements for every 100 private homes in the borough. That's four and a half times the average (1.64 applications) for Great Britain.

Certainly the increase in home improvement applications in Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea does fit with the huge sums of foreign investment being pumped into the central London housing market.

"Across London as a whole the average number of applications for home improvements as a proportion of the private housing stock came in at 2.6%. This compares with a national average of just below 2%," says Adam Valentine, Group Content Director, Barbour ABI.

The pattern of more home improvements in the richer areas in England shown in this latest research is also played out in London. While Westminster leads, followed closely by Kensington & Chelsea and Richmond on Thames, the level of applications in poorer boroughs is far lower.

The proportion of home improvement applications in Westminster is seven times that seen in Barking & Dagenham in 2012.

That said Brent stands out as an interesting example of a borough that seems to be bucking the trend. Despite being the London borough with the third lowest average income it features in the top 10 for home improvements for 2012. It is shown to have the greatest growth in activity over the past three years.

The Government's Family Spending survey suggests that households across the UK on average spent across 2010 and 2011 about £1,000 a year on altering and improving their homes, the average amount spent in London was nearer £1,500.

Top 10 London districts for home improvement

                                                          2012 v
                                                         2010/11
    Region/Country         Region  2010  2011  2012      average
    Westminster                LN  5.93  7.43  7.38         10.5
    Kensington and Chelsea     LN  3.42  3.98  4.79         29.4
    Richmond upon Thames       LN  3.69  4.37  4.45         10.5
    Hammersmith and Fulham     LN  3.09  3.65  4.19         24.4
    Camden                     LN  3.02  3.49  4.11         26.5
    Wandsworth                 LN  2.80  3.10  3.22          9.0
    Islington                  LN  2.41  3.25  3.20         13.3
    Barnet                     LN  2.72  2.86  2.81          0.7
    Lambeth                    LN  2.33  2.59  2.74         11.3
    Brent                      LN  1.56  2.25  2.66         39.7

Notes: The survey as a whole is based on the number of planning applications received by each authority compared with the estimate for the number private homes within that authority.

There are exclusions: National Parks, Channel Islands, Isles of Scilly, Isle of Man, London Legacy (the Olympic Park)

Also while calculations were done omitted from the lists are authorities where there are fewer than 10,000 private homes. These include City of London, Orkney, Shetlands).

Notes to editors

Barbour ABI is the leading provider of construction intelligence products, providing UK companies with sales leads, contact data, CRM software and market intelligence.  Its reputation is built and maintained by the in house team of market researchers who have excellent working relationships with planning authorities and other relevant information providers, including Government departments.

Barbour ABI was recently made responsible for publishing data for the UK Government's Construction and Infrastructure Pipeline, which outlines future construction and infrastructure projects where public funding is agreed.  Barbour ABI produces the CPA/Barbour ABI Index monthly alongside the Construction Products Association (CPA), and is the chosen data provider for the CPA Forecasting Panel.

Barbour ABI is part of UBM plc's specialist media division UBM Built Environment. UBM Built Environment is widely acknowledged as having some of the most iconic brands in the market, including Building, Property Week, Building Design (BD), RESI, Barbour Product Search, Public Property Summit, Sleep, Decorex, Interiors and Ecobuild.