Tapping into big-data resources is always a good starting point for a new insight project. Even better if these resources are free.
To get you started, here are our top 7 recommended big-data resources for the UK Home Improvement sector. These are the resources we regularly use to give the big picture view and provide that all-important context to our Market Insight Framework
1. Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Top of the list and our favourite data resource is the Office for National Statistics. The ONS is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and the recognised national statistical institute of the UK.
It is a fantastic resource of all things demographic and is continually updated. It covers subjects such as household types, population growth, ethnicity and cultural identity and much more.
The ONS also publish the national census results.
2. The English Housing Survey
Another government agency, this time everything you need to know about UK housing stock. The English Housing Survey (EHS) is a national survey of people’s housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. It is one of the longest standing government surveys, and was first run in 1967.
Their latest report covers 2020-21 and gives an indication of the impact of Covid on housing.
3. Zoopla Housing Index
Staying on the subject of housing, the Zoopla UK House Price Index Report is a monthly analysis of UK property market data, and annual price growth statistics for the UK, all countries and regions and 20 major UK cities.
As a barometer for the home improvement sector, understanding the direction the housing market is taking can provide an additional and important dimension to a research project
As a barometer for the home improvement sector, understanding the direction the housing market is taking can provide an additional and important dimension to a research project Click To Tweet4. The Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI)
Launched in 2015, the award winning monthly Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) report is a reliable measure of repair, maintenance & improvement (RMI) activity in the UK.
This data is on a more granular level and shows the market trends by home improvement category.
It is widely used in construction, and by economists, Government, national media, commentators and influencers outside the industry.
5. Statista
Wikipedia describes Statista as “specializing in market and consumer data. According to the company, its platform contains more than 1,000,000 statistics on more than 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources and 170 different industries” .
Statista have a free basic account which allows access to top-line data. It is also a speedy way of searching through a wide range of available reports to find the best one for a specific research project.
6. Google Trends
As part of the ‘Think with Google’ suite, Google Trends an online search tool that allows the user to see how often specific keywords, subjects and phrases have been queried over a specific period of time. A useful resource to back up your google analytics dashboard.
7. Worldometer
Real time stats for the data geeks amongst us. Worldometer is run by an international team of developers, researchers, and volunteers with the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time relevant format to a wide audience around the world.
Worldometer was voted as one of the best free reference websites by the American Library Association (ALA), the oldest and largest library association in the world.
Did you know …
The Trend-Monitor website also has a wide range of free data resources for you to tap into. Visit our
Secondary Research Library, Consumer Panel, or download one of our consumer reports