Time, television and the decline of DIY

Whilst it can be argued that home improvements are cyclical and largely informed by the ‘wealth effect’ as a function of the state of the housing market, this paper turns its attention to home owners and their participation in such activities. In particular it provides evidence of a progressive decline across the last decade in DIY (do-it-yourself) activity independent of fluctuations in house prices. Through an examination of the concept of ‘time compression’ the choice and selection of leisure activities, of which DIY was once a considered option, is identified as subject to heightened competition, with preference given to those that supply an immediate sense of gratification. As a consequence of this, the ‘cash rich-time poor’ increasingly turn to tradesmen to realise their visions of domestic transformation, more interested in outcome than process; acceptability over authenticity. Furthermore, such changes in the temporal register also inform the search for and production of innovative television programme formats that seek both to inspire and entertain. Consequently, this paper argues, such programmes deny the possibility of knowledge transfer for those still wishing to engage in DIY and subsequently force home owners into being consumers rather than producers of their own material worlds.