Four in 10 of UK adults have admitted that they’ve been blanked by a tradesperson, according to new data from HomeServe.
The data found that 38% of people are most ghosted after they request a quote from a tradesperson, leaving 43% of potential customers feeling annoyed and 12% feeling rejected.
Despite the average UK adult having £656 per job spare to spend on home fixes, increased demand for tradespeople – up 22% year on year – means many adults are struggling to find someone to commit. Plumbers are in the highest demand with a third of homeowners claiming plumbers are harder to find than any other tradespeople.
When it comes to the professions most likely to ghost, the research shows builders, general handy men/women, and landscapers – all 10% – come out top.
When thinking about the reasons why they were ghosted, 30% believe they didn’t hear back as their job wasn’t considered high enough value. The same amount reasoned the tradesperson was too busy with other jobs. One in ten reflected they may have been too specific about the work they wanted done.
The research found that 8% of respondents felt they were ghosted for being a ‘difficult customer’, whilst 10% of women felt it was because of their gender.
Location also was shown to play a role in response rates, with the trend more common in larger cities. London, 51%, Leeds and Liverpool, both 48%, ranked as the top ghosting hotspots overall.
The prevalence of tradesperson ghosting has led to some people making ill-informed home improvement or repair decisions. One in four said they took matters into their own hands after not being able to find a good tradesperson and ended up regretting it. A total of 31% paid for work that ended up being low quality as they were eager for it to be completed quickly.
Such is the appeal of a good tradesperson in 2023, 69% of UK adults said they’ve gone out of their way to be a good host to ensure repeat work. One in four have even kept the details of a good tradesperson to themselves so they don’t get too busy, with men more likely to do so than women – 26% vs 19%.
A spokesperson at HomeServe said: “The research shows that demand currently outstrips supply when it comes to finding good tradespeople in 2023. Understandably, many can’t keep up with their admin as there are too many jobs for every tradesperson, leaving one in four UK adults ghosted, annoyed and alone.
“With a nationwide network of home experts and claims lines open 24/7, 365 days a year, you can feel confident that with cover from HomeServe, our engineers will never ghost you when you need help taking care of your home.”