High spend home owners bring building industry in from cold

The Listed Property Show, Saturday 21st – Sunday 22nd February at Olympia, London

A consumer property show is delivering a rare ray of sunshine to the financially-stricken building industry. Several thousand owners of the UK’s heritage homes will be attending expert showcase The Listed Property Show this coming February in London.

It does not need any more headlines, or indeed the Chancellor, to tell us that times are tough for anyone linked to the building industry. But one specialist sector is applying lessons learnt in the last recession to ensure that the slump does not drag them under.

Whilst the housing market sunk during the economic down-turn of the late 80s and early 90s, companies focused on renovation were able to keep afloat because house-holders chose to put money into improvements rather than movements.

The listed property market is top of the spending table on renovations. Often these are homeowners who are legally obliged to carry out work to a defined spec; that means a decent budget, quality materials and expert advice. Recent research amongst owners of period properties showed that less than 14% felt that the current recession would affect their plans for renovations, whilst an impressive 77% are planning a home improvement project. Last year’s event grew by 65% from 2,285 visitors in 2007, to 3,770 in 2008 and organisers The Listed Property Owners Club expect the same again this year.

Listed Property Show