Clearview National November 2014 - Issue 156 | Page 18

INDUSTRYNEWS

All Clear For
Growth In
The Domestic
Glazing Market
A buoyant housing market and a growing economy
will sustain growth in the market to 2018
»»Growing consumer
confidence, a burgeoning housing
market and a low interest rate
environment helped boost the
domestic glazing market in Great
Britain in 2013. And growth
looks set to continue through to
2018. “We’re entering the longest
period of prolonged growth for
this market since the nineties”
says Robert Palmer, director of
Palmer Market Research.
After continuing to decline
in the first quarter of 2013, the
market dramatically switched to
growth in the second quarter,
ending up for the year nearly
5% higher at £3.78 billion. By
sector, the market in new build
housing shot up 17% and in

home improvements by a more
modest 4%. Only social housing
refurbishment failed to see an
increase, down just over 2%.
Government initiatives, in
particular the Help to Buy
scheme, have had an important
effect on new build and will
continue to do so through to
2018 and even beyond. Rising
interest rates will be something of
a dampener but even so by 2018
the market is forecast to be 50%
bigger than it was in 2013.
The strengthening housing
market itself is also helping home
improvements as homeowners
feel that these are now worth
making again. The higher number
of housing transactions boosted

18 » N OV 2014 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M

the replacement market which
saw growth for the first time
in ten years. Overall, the home
improvement market will grow by
nearly a fifth between 2013 and
2018.
More negatively, funding issues
after the winding down of the
Decent Homes Programme will
mean little or no growth in social
housing refurbishment over the
period to 2018.
But 2013, saw other important
trends. Aluminium started
to make a comeback with its
share growing from 5% to 8%.
Disappointingly, bi-folding doors
failed to maintain the growth it
saw in previous years; rather than
increasing, the market actually fell

‘Triple glazing
is bound to
grow strongly
in the coming
years’
Robert Palmer,
Director of Palmer
Market Research

by 7%. Although Palmer’s forecast
has been downgraded since last
year, the market for bi-folds are
still seen as growing in the long
term not least because they are an
aspirational part of the growing
trend to brick built extensions.
In the window market, vertical
sliding sash and tilt & turn
styles saw growth of a fifth in
2013, while in the entrance door
market composites increased
their dominance to reach 40%
share. The conservatory market
continues to disappoint with a
2% fall in 2013. But, that masks a
near 40% growth in replacements
and a 10% decline in first time
installations.
Triple glazing is still in its
infancy in this market. In 2013,
incidence in windows was
between 1½ and 2½% according
to sector, but more than double
that in entrance doors. “Triple
glazing is bound to grow strongly
in the coming years as it becomes
an irresistible marketing challenge
for suppliers,” says Palmer.