New Houzz Report: AI adoption grows across UK construction and design

Houzz, the leading platform for home renovation and design, has released its inaugural 2026 UK State of AI in Construction and Design Report, which reveals early AI adopters say they save 3 hours a week and enjoy a £23K annual productivity boost – we bring you the key takeaways.

The first-ever 2025 UK Houzz State of AI in Construction and Design Report, provides a detailed look into how the industry is evolving with the rapidly changing AI landscape. Based on a survey of over 145 construction and design professionals, the report reveals broad awareness, moderate adoption and high expectations for AI’s transformative impact, alongside a clear call for support, training and trusted tools.

Nearly half of industry professionals are already using AI in their businesses (46%), and they report saving an average of over 3 hours per week, citing benefits like greater productivity, reduced manual effort and improved organisation. This savings translates to more than £23,000 in annual productivity gains per business*.

Strikingly, 3 in 5 respondents believe AI will transform the industry within the next 5 years (60%). Awareness of AI is already widespread across the industry, with 7 in 10 pros saying that they know about AI (72%). Only 18% are not very familiar with AI and 10% report no exposure at all. Notably, 3 in 5 pros are familiar with AI tools specifically designed for construction and design workflows (72%).

“AI innovation in construction and design is accelerating, creating a competitive advantage for pros who adopt it,” said Alon Cohen, Houzz co-founder and CEO. “As the report shows, pros in our industry are approaching this era with openness and a strong desire to learn. The future is about adopting AI to build stronger, more successful businesses. At Houzz, this vision has guided our work: delivering powerful AI capabilities in Houzz Pro software to boost productivity across every phase of a project and client relationship.”

Specific activity includes:

- Administrative work (79% across all pros, 89% construction, 88% design), such as AI-assisted note-taking, formatting and document editing.

- Sales and marketing (52% across all pros, 67% construction, 48% design) activities, particularly related to social media content, advertising and lead management.

- Planning and design (33% across all pros, 33% construction, 40% design) tools to visualise projects, generate floor plans and support takeoffs.

- Project and client management (31% across all pros, 33% construction, 36% design) features for estimating, invoicing and task tracking.

- Business operations & reporting (21% across all pros, 33% construction, 24% design), such as invoicing, paperwork, expense tracking, financial reporting and performance tracking.

Nearly two-thirds of design and construction professionals who use AI are satisfied with their experience (61%), and 60% say AI has had a moderate to significant impact on their workflow. However, concerns persist, including the reliability and accuracy of AI-generated outputs, data security and privacy risks, and a lack of adequate training or technical expertise.

While satisfaction with AI tools is high, the report highlights a gap in training and support. As designer Andrea Yorston Interior Design says: “We know AI could save us time, but most tools require a level of training and experimentation that just isn’t realistic when you’re running projects day to day. What makes the biggest difference is when those capabilities are built into the tools we already use, so you can start benefiting from them straight away.”

Download the complete report here.