The Home Improvements Spurred on by Lockdown
No one can deny the hardships that the COVID-19 pandemic brought about for all of us. However, in the bleakness of the lockdows, many people found purpose in undertaking DIY projects around the home.
The demand for DIY home improvements soared so high in the beginning of 2021 that the increased global demand meant shortages of materials in the UK. This impacted not only the DIY home improvement projects across the UK, but also projects planned by large building companies. The Construction Leadership Council blamed this on “unprecedented levels of demand” for the situation, which it said was likely to “continue for the foreseeable future”.
During that time, most things from the smallest of plans to the largest of projects were put on hold, and people were discouraged from starting any more DIY projects. Roland Glancy, managing director of design service Peek Home stated: “the last thing you want is to knock through a wall and then struggle to get hold of a bag of plaster to complete your vision leaving you living in a building site, just when we should be enjoying our new freedoms.”
What were the Most Common Home Improvements?
With the prospect of further lockdowns not ruled out due to the COVID-19 variants, looking back at the DIY projects of the past can both inspire us and act as a cautionary tale.
Statista reported on the prevalence of home improvement projects in the US during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. They found that some of the most popular home improvement projects that were undertaken were garden landscaping, interior design upgrades, repainting indoors, installing a high-speed internet connection, and adding security cameras to your property.
Statista asked respondents about if they had made any home improvements during lockdown, 76 percent of respondents stated they “had made at least one improvement to their home during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States in 2020”.
When asked about their reasons for undertaking these DIY home improvements during the pandemic, many people cited finally having the time to actually carry out these improvements as their main reason. Only five percent of the people surveyed stated that adapting the home for a new baby was the reason for the project, so we can assume that these projects were largely pandemic-driven.