Rogue trader complaints surge 75% as new protection scheme launches
Households in England and Wales are facing a surge in suspected cowboy builder scams, with complaints flagged as potential fraud rising from eight per cent to 14 per cent of all home improvement cases between 2022 and 2025, according to analysis of Citizens Advice data.
The escalating problem comes as the Government launches a new Trusted Payments scheme designed to protect homeowners from rogue traders through a database of verified builders and milestone-based payment safeguards.
Home improvement firm Leader Online found that remedial costs to fix shoddy building work reached £2.3 million in 2025, the highest level since 2022. However, this figure likely represents only a fraction of the true cost, as most complainants did not provide detailed financial information about the damage caused.
Applying the median reported loss of £1,000 across all 189,224 complaints submitted to Citizens Advice last year suggests the actual remediation bill could have reached £189.2 million, Leader Online estimated.
An estimated 4.8 million homeowners across the UK have encountered problems with home repairs during the past 18 months, according to Citizens Advice research. Among those who lost money due to trader problems, homeowners lost a median of £750, with 11 per cent losing more than £5,000.
Roofing work tops complaint list
Roofing, roof sealing and chimney repairs generated the highest number of complaints to Citizens Advice in 2025, totalling 7,854 complaints. This represented almost 20 per cent of all home improvement complaints and over 80 per cent more than the second-highest category.
Plumbing complaints increased by 33 per cent from 2,175 in 2024 to 2,986 in 2025, while floor covering fitting complaints surged 181 per cent from 59 to 166 complaints over the same period.
Home maintenance and improvements were the second-largest category of complaint handled by the Citizens Advice Consumer Service in the past year, behind only used vehicle issues which accounted for 17.8 per cent of all complaints.
In 2022, Citizens Advice recorded 50,346 cases of home renovation work problems involving traders. Of these, an estimated 4,024 were flagged as potential scams, giving a potential scam rate of eight per cent. By 2025, while the total number of recorded complaints had dropped, the proportion flagged as potential scams had risen to 14 per cent. Early 2026 data suggests suspected scams remain elevated.
Market erosion from distrust
The crisis of confidence in the building trade has created wider economic ripples. Around three in ten people who arranged home repairs in the last 18 months carried out work themselves because they didn't think they could find a trustworthy trader, while more than a quarter delayed or avoided repairs altogether for the same reason.
Currently in the UK, anyone can call themselves a builder with no minimum competence level required to run a building company, according to the Federation of Master Builders.
David Turner, head of product at Leader Online, said the financial and emotional impact of a cowboy builder cannot be underestimated. He advised that a good tradesperson should be clear about what is included in the quote, which materials will be used, how long the work should take, and when payments are due.
New payment protection system launches
The Trusted Payments scheme launched on 1 September 2026, with over 100,000 traders expected to access the system by the end of the month, including those from TrustMark, BookaBuilderUK and Trading Standards schemes.
Under the new system, traders signing up must demonstrate certain standards of customer service, transparency and dispute resolution. The Trusted Payments app holds a 10 per cent completion payment in escrow at the start of works, with traders receiving further payments based on agreed milestones throughout the project.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said families would be helped to avoid home improvement projects turning into nightmares. He added that the Government was taking action to protect consumers, support reputable traders and ensure people could spend their money with greater confidence and security.
However, the voluntary nature of the scheme has drawn criticism. The Federation of Master Builders called the crackdown a great move for the industry but expressed concern that voluntary programmes have never filled the gap for good regulation that protects both reputable builders and consumers.
The National Federation of Builders said the changes would not stop rogue operators, while the Conservatives suggested there would be added paperwork for businesses already operating legitimately.
Citizens Advice has said home renovations are one of its biggest sources of consumer complaints. In a report published in July 2026, the charity said it received around 37,000 complaints related to home maintenance and improvements in 2025. It found that 28 per cent of people who hired a trader for home repairs or improvements in the last 18 months experienced a problem.
The report also found that households using accredited or larger, brand-name traders were no less likely to experience problems than those using sole traders, underlining that voluntary schemes alone were not fixing the market.
