Cautious consumers are not a threat to retailers – they're an opportunity, says KBSA

When households are watching every pound, the worst thing they can do is buy twice, and that, says the KBSA (Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Specialists Association), is exactly when an independent specialist can earn their keep. “It’s easy to read the current numbers and feel gloomy, but I read them very differently,” said Richard Hibbert, KBSA national chair, pictured. “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.”

While GfK’s headline Consumer Confidence Index edged up 2 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 Hibbert, 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.”

KBSA is encouraging any consumer planning a project this year to put a showroom to the test before committing. The association's advice is: 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.