June 2026: When households are watching every pound, the worst thing they can do is buy twice, and that, says the KBSA, is exactly when an independent specialist earns its keep.
“It’s easy to read the current numbers and feel gloomy, but I read them very differently,” says Richard Hibbert, KBSA National Chair “People are still planning kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, they’re just being far more careful about how they spend. When someone is scrutinising every pound, the value of a trusted specialist becomes more compelling, not less.”
The latest consumer data shows exactly where that caution bites. While GfK’s headline Consumer Confidence Index edged up two points to minus 23 in May, its Major Purchase Index fell to minus 20, its lowest reading since January 2025. Even as the broader mood lifted, consumers grew more hesitant about precisely the kind of significant, considered investment a new kitchen or bathroom represents.
That hesitancy is playing out against a housing market that is steadying rather than seizing up. The RICS UK Residential Market Survey for May 2026 reported new buyer enquiries unchanged on April at a net balance of -34%, the first month since January that demand had not weakened further. The decline in agreed sales also levelled off rather than deepening, prompting RICS to note that the pace of deterioration is no longer intensifying. And people are still moving: TwentyCi’s most recent Property & Homemover Report puts Q1 transactions 10.7% ahead of the same quarter in 2023 and 19.2% ahead of 2024, with the dip against 2025 a quirk of last year’s rush to beat the stamp duty deadline rather than any collapse in demand.
For Richard, this is the moment the independent’s core strength pays for itself. “Our members don’t sell boxes, they solve problems,” he said. “A poorly briefed project is where budgets really get destroyed – the changes, delays and work that has to be ripped out and done again. Getting the brief right first time, through proper design, planning and installation, is the real economy. For anyone being sensible with their money, that’s the smart choice.”
It is also what the KBSA mark is built to guarantee. Every member works to the association’s Approved Code of Conduct and is independently monitored against it. The membership certificate displayed in the showroom signals that design, planning and installation are held accountable to standards KBSA has upheld since 1978.
KBSA is encouraging any consumer planning a project this year to put a showroom to the test before committing. Ask who will manage the project from design through to installation; ask how changes and delays are handled; and ask to see the KBSA Code of Conduct and proof of membership. A genuine specialist, says the association, will welcome every one of those questions.
Independents can send customers to the consumer half of the KBSA’s website, where it explains the protection the association offers them. Find out more here: kbsa.org.uk/consumer.
Contact: 01623 818808 or www.kbsa.org.uk
For further details, please contact Sophie Baylis or Ruth Bell at Interiors InsideOut:
07974 341446 or sophie@interiorsinsideout.com
07718 900129 or ruth@interiorsinsideout.com
