Property experts have warned UK homeowners to reconsider skipping or delaying essential jobs around the home, as new stats reveal close to a quarter (23 percent) of UK homeowners are putting off vital jobs, such as boiler servicing.
Experts from MyBuilder.com, a platform that matches reliable tradespeople to homeowners, are urging homeowners to continue vital maintenance, or they could potentially cause issues.
In its consumer research, MyBuilder.com found that many UK homeowners were choosing to forego vital works such as boiler servicing due to expense, despite the risks. These stats were backed up by MyBuilder’s own data, which shows that boiler servicing jobs have been down all year, ever since the cost of living crisis began. Boiler servicing requests have dropped 18 percent so far this year, compared to the same period in 2022.
This is particularly concerning in light of the fact that skipping a boiler service can bring danger into your home – as well as invalidate your home insurance.
Boilers should be serviced annually, as not doing so can lead to many issues and is likely to invalidate their warranty. This can lead to homeowners losing significant sums of money should the boiler fail. Regular servicing can also pick up any faults before they become serious, preventing serious damage to the boiler and snowballing repair costs.
But more importantly, services are meant to ensure the safe operation of the boiler, keeping your property – and your personal safety – intact. Faulty boilers can lead to serious dangers, such as carbon monoxide poisoning, or potential fire risks.
The research found that homeowners aged over 55 were the most likely to delay getting maintenance work done, with 28 percent admitting they planned to postpone or skip getting works completed. The younger homeowners (under 34 year olds) were most likely to prioritise home maintenance, with just 20 percent planning on delaying. Geographically there were also some variations,including:
- Liverpool was the location in the UK with the highest number of homeowners avoiding repairs at 34 percent.
- Brighton came in second with 33 percent.
- Nottingham was the next highest, with 29 percent.
- Norwich 24 percent
- Manchester 23 percent
- London 22 percent
- Sheffield 19 percent
- Edinburgh homeowners are the most likely to continue with essential maintenance, with just 16 percent stating they would delay work.
However, as winter approaches, MyBuilder.com is now warning that last-minute bookings for heating engineers may leave customers disappointed.
Jack Coles, a heating expert at MyBuilder.com, said: “We know things have been really tough this year for many Brits, but boiler servicing is one job that really shouldn’t be skipped. It can invalidate your insurance and warranty in the event of an issue, or worse, can cause hazards in your home.
“Late September is the time when demand hits its peak, meaning that those who attempt to organise a boiler service after that date may be in for a long wait. In an ordinary year, bookings for boiler servicing can spike more than 60 percent – but with so many people delaying their services this year, we expect that to be even higher.
“We’d advise homeowners who do plan to service their boilers to book it in as soon as possible, to ensure they have working heating ahead of colder weather, which may only be a few weeks away despite the current warmer weather.”
