Houzz Releases 'State of the Industry' Report

Houzz UK Ltd, the world’s leading platform for home renovation and design, today released the 2018 Houzz UK State of the Industry. The report provides an overview of 2017 performance and an outlook on 2018 for residential renovation and design businesses based on data reported by more than 500 professionals in the Houzz UK community. The study revealed that 2017 was a strong year for the majority of firms across the industry, with over two-thirds having met or exceeded gross revenue expectations for the year (71 percent).

More than two-thirds of businesses also reported an increase in gross revenue in 2017 relative to 2016 (67 percent), with half of those reporting that revenues increased by more than 10 percent (50 percent). Design and build firms were most likely to have seen revenue gains relative to 2016 (68 percent), followed by architects and interior designers (60 and 59 percent, respectively). 

Increases in revenue were not without challenges. Over a quarter of businesses reported they had difficulty in finding prospective customers in 2017 (30 percent), along with a surge in the cost of doing business and concerns over a weak national economy (27 percent each). While managing customer concern over cost continues to be a challenge (37 percent), the report shows a two percentage point reduction from the previous year (35 percent). Additional costs of doing business were felt most significantly by design and build firms (43 percent), whereas architects were most concerned about a weak national economy (37 percent).

“Renovation business revenues have surpassed expectations for another consecutive year,” said Nino Sitchinava, principal economist at Houzz. “The overall outlook for 2018 remains optimistic as well, despite businesses managing significant constraints in the form of rising product and material costs and an uncertain national economy.” 

Looking Forward to 2018

Despite renovation professionals anticipating a rise in the cost of doing business (63 percent), three quarters of firms are optimistic about continued gross revenue growth (75 percent). Design and build firms and interior designers are most bullish in their expectations for increased gross revenue in 2018 (91 percent and 83 percent, respectively), followed by architects (63 percent). To support that growth, firms plan to invest in more marketing (61 percent) and bring in larger budget projects (54 percent). Other common strategies include increasing prices (41 percent), improving customer experience (39 percent), and offering new products or services (32 percent). Company headcounts are expected to rise in 2018 for more than half of design and build firms (57 percent), nearly a third of interior designers (29 percent) and nearly a quarter of architects (23 percent).

The full 2018 Houzz UK State of the Industry report can be found here.

There are more than 1.5 million active home renovation and design professionals on Houzz, including architects, interior designers, home builders and design and build firms.

Source: Insight DIY Team & Houzz press release.

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