Gardening, DIY and Home Bars are what we are spending our money on this year

With us being restricted to our homes and gardens (if we are lucky enough to have them) during lockdown, banks and credit card companies have been surveying what we spent our money on, or intend to spend it on this year.

According to an American Express survey we have each spent over £100 on our gardens, which equates to a whopping £3.7 billion spent across the UK.

Our increased relationship with our outdoor spaces has led to increased spending as well as spending more time outdoors, with almost half of AmEx respondents with a garden (49%) enjoying it as a space to relax, or meet safely with friends and family (20%). Perhaps not surprisingly 62% admitted to having spent more time in their garden or outdoor space this year than in 2019.

One in seven people (14%) spent time and money on redesigning their garden or outdoor space during lockdown, with 12% sharing pictures of their upgrades on social media. Let’s face it many people now believe that if it isn’t photographed and shared on social media then it hasn’t really happened. Also if you have gone to all that trouble and expense it’s nice to share it with your nearest and dearest, and sometimes that can only be done digitally at the moment.

Research by digital bank Zopa found that 2020 is going to continue to be a bumper year for home improvements, as 43% of households turned their hand to DIY during lockdown and 44% plan to by the end of the year. They found that Brits making improvements to their homes this year estimate an average spend of £3,169 across all of 2020, up 13% compared to last year.

Those surveyed by Zopa said Lockdown has been a major catalyst, with the most common motivations cited by households being having the time to get around to outstanding work (35%), becoming bored of their surroundings (24%) and realising the importance of outdoor space (20%).

The largest number of people surveyed by American Express had bought outdoor plants, spending on average £36, with seeds and compost being other popular purchases. The largest spends were on Garden furniture and Garden DIY equipment, with BBQ and garden games coming in as other high contenders.

They found that neighbours have been spreading their love of gardening too, 15% said they have received a plant or home-grown fruit and vegetables from someone they know during lockdown. No doubt we have all seen signs with garden produce and plants for sale or even asking people to help themselves to surplus fruit and veg.

Another survey, by Barclaycard, showed Home improvement and DIY spending rose by 27.1 per cent year-on-year, this time they were lumping together home and garden renovations in their figures.

Even though restrictions are lifting and offices are starting to reopen, 12% say they plan to work from home more in the future, so want to improve their working conditions. The top embellishments to improve workspaces were buying new plants (72%), new seating (69%), a new desk (64%) and better broadband (63%).

Home entertainment has also been high on the agenda this year, according to Zopa, more than one in ten (12%) plan to use their garden for entertaining more. With access to pubs and bars restricted 8% of those surveyed have built their own bars in homes or gardens across lockdown, spending an average of £1,500 in the process.

Some of the best home entertaining and garden offices can be seen at this years Shed of the Year Competition. Check out the shortlist and vote here.

So if this all inspires you to get going, or keep going check out our tools in the online toolstore, Cheers!