DIY TV shows drive £23bn boom

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Market analyst Datamonitor said the lowest loan rates since the Sixties plus popular DIY TV shows were driving a boom. During the first six months of 2002, it said, the number of home improvement planning applications rose 11 per cent.

The UK DIY market was worth more than £23 billion in 2001 with each household spending an average of £900 on DIY. Britons took out £13.6 billion in loans for home projects, and that is expected to rise to £17.6 billion by 2006.

Report author Edward Ripley said: "Rapidly increasing house prices have been partially responsible, increasing homeowners' confidence to undertake expensive projects and reducing their intentions to move in the near future."

People in the South-East and South-West are most likely to embark on major DIY, with 16 per 1,000 households seeking planning permission for such projects in 2001.

In Greater London, 5.5 households per 1,000 applied, but there has been a 42 per cent rise in applications in the first six months of 2002.

Conservatory-building accounted for one in three major projects - making it the most popular and replacing garage-building. In London loft conversion was the favourite DIY option.