Construction trades?!?!?!?

[Fisher Consultancy]

Would a trade still be a viable option to start in at this point. I was talking to someone who said not, however i disagree.

I think that when property market is booming, there is always a need for builders, plumbers, electricians etc, however at the moment, people are not buying, but familys still expand so they improve or extend their own property, needing tradesmen. Even when things go wrong they are needed, eg, heating breaks, power goes off etc.

Are tradesmen like electricians and plumbers still in demand?
Will this change over the next decade?

It would be great to get some other views on this.:D

[scribe]

Tradesmen will always be in demand, it's the cowboy builder that will hopefully become extinct. God how i hate them!!!!.

[Hogrill]

There will always be a demand for tradesmen although its probably a bit less right now than it was 12 months ago. I'm sure there are many doing well and equally sure some are struggling.

The question you need to ask yourself is, how can you grab a big enough share of the available market to earn enough money to support the lifestyle you want.

[maxine]

I dont mind telling you that we are struggling a bit at the moment. When I compare our turnover for last 3 months to last year we are down by about £15k :( We are still getting a fair bit of work but having to work hard to get it and our main business customers have pretty much all gone bust so just left with domestic work mainly.

Tough going :)

Even if people are not moving and want to improve their homes there are so many that can't as have been made redudant, or lost incomes such as overtime or bonuses and this is the feedback that I am getting at the moment when I am following up quotes and enquiries.

[Moneyman]

what is it about the headlines "construction market unlikely to recover for 3 to 5 years" that you have been missing? right now there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of experienced construction workers trying to pick up jobs and you want to take them on?

[Esk247]

there is a need for what i call 'necessity services' these are things like emergency plumbers/electricians, heating specialists and glaziers etc. windows will still get broken, pipes will burst, lights will go out...HOWEVER...you must be competitive with your rates and don't bother with the construction side of things..as pointed above..its very difficult this side of things right now but perhaps locate an area that isn't served very well by cheap, cheerful and reliable plumbers/electricians etc.

not sure what my town is like right now..but a year ago we couldn't find a plumber that didn't charge £100 per hour to grout a shower. if you could cut peoples repair bills then there may still be a requirement. darn hard work though.

[RockLinks]

I have worked as a Plumber for a few years so still have contacts in the industry. Everyone is struggling, the phones are dead and its only emergency/Needs to be done asap work coming in. The trouble is all the TV adverts and newspaper ads have drived so much competition into the market and its flooded, at times like these there is not enough work to go round and there is always someone there that can do the job cheaper.

[Silky]

I used to work in a DIY related field many years ago and they always experienced a boom when the housing market declined - more people sitting tight in their properties and deciding on improvements. GfK statistics for related fields are likely to support this.

The recession is still quite "new" and surrounded by a lot of mass hysteria which may be effecting tradespeople in the shorter time. Once this settles down and we realise we're not all going to be homeless next week then I'd put my money on a similar pattern emerging in this recession, and the home improvement market seeing a similar surge.

Silky

[estwig]

No offence, but I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the assumption that because people are not moving, they must be improving.

People are simply not spending money on moving or improving, they are just not spending money on anything. Fortunately we are ticking over nicely, not as rushed as we have been in the past, but maybe that's not a bad thing for us.

[Fisher Consultancy]

Moneyman...who said anything about taking them on? This was merely a discussion i had with someone, which made me want to get other peoples opinions! Never said i was gonna take anyone on?

The reason i say people are improving, is not on a nationwide basis, as i have no idea what people are doing, im not in the industry. I just know from experience in my own life and local area. I know 3 people who wanted to get a bigger house, but because they cannot sell their own house, have decided to get an extension and a loft conversion. Thats what i was basing my assumtion on.

[estwig]

For what it is worth.

I am basing my comments on over 20 years experience in the domestic building market.

You'd have to mad to try and enter the building game at this time.

[lockie]

Lots of guys are struggling for work especially with the cheap polish guys into everything as well.The advent of pushfittings means more and more diyers are "giving it a go" as well.

Do your research extremely well as many are jumping onto anything they think will make them money as times are hard.

Ive seen it first hand in my trade.There are people driving vans advertising plumbing and locksmith services on the van.not good for either trade or the public.

[Silky]

No offence, but I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the assumption that because people are not moving, they must be improving..

My post was based on my experience working for a manufacturer of DIY products in the last recession, not an assumption. Market stats supported this at the time. History doesn't necessarily dictate the future, but patterns do re-occur.

As other posters have pointed out though, DIY can mean actual DIY....

I'd still put my money on the home improvement market seeing signs of recovery long before the actual housing market, whenever that may be.

Silky

[estwig]

My comment wasn't aimed at you Silky, more aimed at the World in general.

:)

[Mattonella Tile Studio]

I feel there will always be some demand for good tradespeople, as a friend of mine says "It's about fishing in the right pond". He targets the higher end of the market who want a good job doing. People after a cheap job he leaves to somebody else. The upper end of the market also isn't feeling the pinch so much.

We're still getting enquiries for the top end tiles (Villeroy & Boch for example), and the Victorian style floor tiles, so money is still being spent on property in this area of the market.