Ask a homeowner what a renovation involves and the answer may begin with paint colours. Ask the data and it begins rather more practically: electricians and plumbers. The 2025 UK Houzz & Home Study, based on 1,060 UK homeowners and renovation activity in 2024, shows just how often specialist trades sit at the centre of home improvement.
Electricians lead the hiring table
Among renovating homeowners in the study, 59% hired an electrician and 56% hired a plumber. Flooring professionals came next at 47%, followed by carpenters at 42% and painters at 41%. Windows and doors professionals were hired by 38%, home builders by 33% and roofers by 31%. In total, 94% of renovating homeowners hired at least one professional. Source: 2025 UK Houzz & Home Study.
That 94% figure is perhaps the most revealing. Renovation may begin with an idea, but it usually becomes a multi-skilled delivery problem. Very few substantial projects remain entirely in the realm of the heroic DIY weekend.
Why electrical and plumbing work dominate
The study does not tell us why each homeowner hired each trade, so causation should not be invented. But the pattern is consistent with the practical reality that many renovation projects interact with power, water, heating or fixed building systems. Those systems tend to require competence, sequencing and, in many cases, compliance considerations that go beyond cosmetic work.
This is where the numbers become useful for planning. A kitchen remodel, for example, may require cabinetry, flooring and decoration, but it can also trigger electrical changes, plumbing changes and sometimes heating adjustments. One room can quickly become a small orchestra, with fewer violins and more cable reels.
The middle of the table matters too
Flooring professionals at 47%, carpenters at 42% and painters at 41% show that finishing trades are not peripheral. Nearly half of the surveyed renovators hired flooring help, while more than four in ten hired carpentry or painting expertise.
For businesses, this suggests that referral networks can matter almost as much as direct demand. A plumber may be introduced through a kitchen fitter; a painter may arrive after carpentry; flooring may depend on prior electrical or plumbing work being complete. The data does not map those referral paths, but it does show substantial overlap in professional use.
Roofers and builders appear less often, but that does not mean less value
Home builders were hired by 33% and roofers by 31% of renovating homeowners. Those percentages are lower than the electrician and plumber figures, but frequency is not the same as project value. A trade used less often may still be involved in larger, longer or more expensive work. The Houzz percentages measure incidence of hiring, not pounds spent.
This distinction is essential. A 59% hiring rate for electricians cannot be translated into “59% of renovation spending goes on electrical work”. The survey does not say that. Frequency and value are different measures, and confusing them is how respectable-looking charts wander into nonsense.
What changed from the previous year?
The 2024 UK Houzz & Home Study, covering renovation activity in 2023, reported 59% hiring an electrician, 52% a plumber, 42% a carpenter, 42% a flooring professional, 36% a painter, 35% a home builder, 32% a windows and doors professional and 26% a roofer. Comparing those percentages with the following study gives a useful directional picture.
Electricians were unchanged at 59%. Plumbers rose by four percentage points to 56%. Flooring professionals rose five points to 47%, painters five points to 41%, windows and doors professionals six points to 38%, and roofers five points to 31%. Home builders fell two points to 33%, while carpenters were unchanged at 42%.
Those are survey-to-survey percentage-point movements, not proof of a permanent market trend. The samples differ, and homeowner behaviour can be affected by project mix, budgets and wider economic conditions. Still, the pattern gives a useful snapshot of where professional involvement became more common in the reported year.
The practical lesson: renovation demand is connected
For homeowners, the numbers argue for thinking about sequencing rather than isolated trades. Electrical and plumbing decisions made late can disrupt finished surfaces, while flooring and decoration depend on earlier work being complete. The more trades involved, the more valuable clear scope, scheduling and responsibility become.
For trades businesses, the same data suggests that being easy to coordinate may be a competitive advantage. Customers are not only buying technical work; they are often trying to manage several specialists at once. Reliability, clear handovers and realistic timing can therefore matter alongside craftsmanship.
A renovation is rarely one job
The strongest message from the Houzz figures is simple: modern home renovation is usually multi-trade. With 94% of surveyed renovators hiring a professional and several specialist categories appearing in large shares of projects, the idea of a single-trade renovation looks increasingly incomplete.
The British home may still be our castle, but when the castle needs work, it apparently requires an electrician, a plumber, a flooring specialist, a carpenter and somebody to explain why the decorator cannot start on Tuesday after all.