Opportunities for installers

Wes Clarkson, sales director at SupaLite, explains why installers can still cash in on demand of home improvements despite the gloomier outlook for 2023.

There is no doubt that the long and unrelenting UK property boom is over. Halifax recently reported that house prices have fallen at the fastest rate for 14 years and across the sector, there seems to be little optimism that growth will return as we embark on 2023.

In addition, rising mortgage rates, creeping inflation and stagnant wages have all attributed to property market woes, spreading caution among prospective buyers who, quite sensibly, are waiting to see what the next couple of years brings.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. This period of uncertainty has led to an increase in the home improvement market as homeowners look to update their properties. In fact, people are planning renovation projects now in the hope that prices will rise again soon.

Conservatories are one of the most popular ways to increase space and add value to a home. However, with incredibly poor thermal performance, the traditional polycarbonate roof means the additional living area can’t be used throughout the year – making it redundant for many homeowners.

At SupaLite, we have a range of solutions on offer which are high-quality, energy-efficient and super quick and easy to install. Each SupaLite product provides the perfect solution for ambitious installers looking to branch out into the replacement roof market.

Popular solution

Launched into the retrofit and new conservatory market in 2012, the SupaLite tiled roof system has continued to evolve and advance in the last ten years.

It is incredibly popular among installers who rate its lightweight aluminium beams and rafters. The system is comprised of 100mm EPS insulation, 25mm PIR insulation, 72mm insulated plasterboard and high-performance ExtraLight roof tiles or the option of Tapco slate finishes.

This makes the product lightweight, easy to install and is a perfect solution to improve the performance of traditional conservatories. It can also achieve an exceptionally low U-value rating of 0.15W/m²K.

Thermal efficiency is also at the heart of our SkyVista hybrid roof system, which combines its own lightweight tiled roof with high-performance glazed panels, giving homeowners unrivalled thermal performance and excellent levels of natural light. The product has first-class U-value properties and effective solar control so homeowners can easily regulate the temperature of their conservatory even with plenty of natural light flowing through the whole space.

For conservatories with flat roofs, we have recently manufactured a specially designed ILite orangery system which is one of the strongest, most thermally efficient and quickest-to-install systems on the market.

It is perfect for both retrofit or new builds, and it exceeds building regulation requirements by offering an impressive U-value of 013w/ m²K as standard, meaning it outperforms most competitor roof systems and traditional orangery constructions.

The ILite system is built with timber I-Beam joists which deliver strength, rigidity and eradicate movement and its associated problems. And unlike conventional flat roof orangeries that can take days, sometimes weeks to construct and complete, the ILite system saves huge amounts of time for installers and can be built in hours.

The property market is facing some tough challenges at the moment, but these challenges also bring opportunity, and the moment is ripe for homeowners to take a look at their properties to see what can be renovated and improved – which is fantastic news for ambitious installers.

Our portfolio of products more than meets the changing demands of consumers and our track record among installers in the market is second to none. We’re passionate about delivering a first-class product for our customers and throughout the years we’ve worked incredibly hard to make sure we manufacture and design a high-quality product range.

We think this year we will see a real uptake in home improvements and we hope that installers will see the benefits of our products, passing these on to their customers.”