Shoddy tradeswork is sparking more than 700 complaints a week says Citizens Advice, as it issues top tips for consumers
The Citizens Advice Consumer Service received almost 37,000 complaints about home maintenance and improvements in the past year
Low-quality services make up more than half (19,281) of complaints
The charity shares its expert tips on navigating issues with bad builders
From half-finished jobs to dodgy extensions - Citizens Advice is arming consumers with expert advice, after receiving more than 700 complaints a week about home improvements gone wrong.
The charity’s data shows that thousands of people who spent their hard-earned cash on sprucing up their homes and gardens in the past year faced issues that left them stressed and out-of-pocket.
More than half (19,281) of complaints relate to low-quality services, followed by: a failure or delay to provide services, faulty items, breach of contract and poor customer service.
Citizens Advice has helped consumers navigate everything from damaged properties to jobs not being finished, products not working, being charged premium prices for cheap materials, extra costs being added and being ghosted by tradespeople.
The top five home maintenance and improvements complaints to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service were:
Roofing, roof sealing and chimney repairs - 8,126 complaints (22.2%)
Major renovations including lofts, conversions and extensions - 4,365 complaints (11.9%)
Window frames and doors - 3,856 complaints (10.6%)
Plumbers and plumbing - 2,629 complaints (7.2%)
Fitted kitchens - 2,594 complaints (7.1%)
Of the 36,534 complaints received in the past year, one in seven (5,230) involved scams or rogue traders. These can include cases where a consumer pays for a service but the tradesperson never arrives, or when someone is targeted by high pressure sales for services they might not need, at high prices.
Jane Parsons, Consumer Expert at Citizens Advice, said: “The summer is a peak time in which people look to improve or renovate their homes and gardens, but unfortunately, things don’t always go to plan.
“Every year, we hear from thousands of people who are left out of pocket, waiting weeks or months for work to be completed, subjected to poor quality work - or even scammed.
“It’s so important consumers know what steps to take when there’s an issue. It can make all the difference in getting the problem fixed or getting a refund. And it’s also important for people to know how to find tradespeople that can be trusted.”
Jane’s top tips for people are:
Find a good trader you can trust: Organisations like your local council and trade associations can give you a list of traders. Your council might list traders they’ve approved online, or they might link to another website that lists traders in your area. Find out more about how to find traders you can trust here.
Gather evidence: If there’s a problem caused by a trader, you should be able to get it fixed or get some money back. Gather paperwork and receipts, take photos to use as evidence, and make notes about what’s happened - including times and dates. Then take up the problem with the trader who arranged the work. What you do next depends on the type of problem.
Know your rights: There's specific advice available here which tells you what to do, based on the different problems you might have with traders and their work - like when they haven’t finished on time, or charged more than expected. Know your rights in each situation. For example, if a trader hasn’t done a good job with ‘reasonable care and skill’, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to ask for the problem to be fixed or for a refund.
If you can’t come to an agreement: There are other steps you can take, including complaining to your card provider in the first instance if you paid by card. Or, you might be able to use 'alternative dispute resolution' (ADR) - a way of solving disagreements without going to court. If the trader isn’t part of an ADR scheme, and you’ve already complained to your card provider and the complaint isn't resolved, you may be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service to report a problem or if you need more help - a trained adviser can give you advice over the phone or online.
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Notes to editors:
Between 01/07/24 and 30/06/25, the Citizens Advice Consumer Service received a total of 290,427 complaints. Of those, 36,534 (12.6%) related specifically to ‘home maintenance and improvements’.
Of the 36,534 home maintenance and improvements complaints received in the past year, 5,230 of those (14.3%) involved scams or rogue traders.
Home maintenance and improvements is the second-largest issue (12.6%) dealt with by the Consumer Service, after used vehicle woes (17.8%).
Complaints are categorised by the type of trading practice, and the type of work.
Of the 36,534 complaints in the past year, the top five trading practice issues are: Substandard services - 19,281 complaints (52.8%); failure/delay in providing service - 2,546 complaints (7%); defective goods - 2,299 complaints (6.3%); breach of contract - 2,041 complaints (5.6%) and customer service - 1,274 complaints (3.5%).
Of the 36,534 complaints in the past year, the top five issues with the type of work are: Roofing, roof sealing and chimney repairs - 8,126 complaints (22.2%); major renovations including lofts, conversions and extensions - 4,365 complaints (11.9%); window frames and doors - 3,856 complaints (10.6%); plumbers and plumbing - 2,629 complaints (7.2%) and fitted kitchens - 2,594 complaints (7.1%).
In the previous year (01/07/23 - 30/06/24), the Citizens Advice Consumer Service received a total of 310,967 complaints. Of those, 41,624 (13.4%) related specifically to ‘home maintenance and improvements’. Of those, 5,061 of those (12.2%) involved scams or rogue traders.
The ‘more than 700 complaints a week’ calculation is based on total complaints throughout the time period (01/07/24 - 30/06/25) and the Consumer Service’s opening days. The service was open for 255 days during the time period. Total complaints relating to home maintenance and improvements was 36,534. 36,534 / 255 = 143.3 * 5 (The service is closed on weekends) = 716.4 complaints per week, on average.
Citizens Advice is made up of the national charity Citizens Advice; the network of independent local Citizens Advice charities across England and Wales; the Citizens Advice consumer service; and the Witness Service.
Our network of charities offers impartial advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free.
Citizens Advice helped 2.68 million people face to face, over the phone, by email and webchat in 2023-24. And we had 51.7 million visits to our website. For full service statistics see our monthly publication Advice trends.
Citizens Advice service staff are supported by more than 19,000 trained volunteers, working at over 1,900 service outlets across England and Wales.
Citizens Advice is the statutory consumer advocate for energy and postal markets. We provide supplier performance information to consumers and policy analysis to decision makers.
You can get consumer advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or 0808 223 1144 for Welsh language speakers.