Unless you've been living in a dark hole over the last year, you'll have heard about the effects of the credit crunch. Coverage has been non stop - it's all over the TV, papersm radio and everyone is talking about it. So what does this mean for tradesmen?

How is the Credit Crunch Really Affecting Tradesmen?

Radio 5 recently commented that current trends seem to echo the continued rise of an "Improve Don't Move" culture, perhaps no suprise given that people cannot afford to buy new property and have gone for the "renovate your home" option instead. There are always exceptions of course, but tradesmen seem to be just as busy now as they were a year ago.

Keith Walker, a SafeTrade Registered Contractor, has backed up our observations. He has backed up our observations. He has experienced an increase in demand for jobs such as kitchen extensions and smaller builds because of the credit crunch - with people going for the "renovate your home" option to make more space as opposed to moving to a larger home. We've also had an increase in requests from tradesmen who are looking to join safetrade and those looking to find recommended tradesmen e.g. decorators, plumbers, builders, plasterers etc. which all seems to back up the trend we have discussed above.Radio 5 however cite mixed views on the credit crunch. It seems that domestic tradesmen are coping better on the whole than construction workers who are losing work and being forced to move from the B2B trade into the B2C trade or change career altogether. Large construction firms have had to make big reductions and this is having a knock on effect to suppliers including brick manufacturing companies.


There are challenging times ahead but it's not hard to see that the credit crunch was, to a certain extent, inevitable, especially when you consider the media hype which surrounded it. Ultimately property prices will increase, the question is just how long it will take and how much damage will be done in the meantime.

So if the credit crunch has affected you, maybe you'll want to renovate your home rather than buy a new property. If you need some help in finding recommended tradesmen or just general advice then visit the our homepage for more information or email us at info@safetrade.org.uk