A new clampdown on cowboy builders has been announced by the government.

From this month, a new government supported scheme will help people identify and hire trusted traders with confidence. 

Businesses who sign up to the Approved Code will be able to demonstrate that they meet higher standards of customer service, transparency and dispute resolution. 

There will also be a new system to protect people’s money during building projects with payments directly linked to key project milestones. 

The government claims this will back the many builders across the UK who do the right thing by their customers and prevent them being undercut by rogue operators.  

A statement from 10 Downing Street says: “Currently, too many people are being ripped off. More than one in four UK adults who carried out home improvements work in the past 18 months experienced problems – whether it be projects abandoned halfway through, undue pressure on elderly people to overpay for shoddy work or even builders disappearing on holiday with upfront payments with little to no work completed. 

“More than one in three of these faced extra costs, losing an average of £750 of their hard-earned cash. In 2024, people lost over £10.3 billion on home and garden maintenance costs due to losses, overpriced costs or unfair practices. Delays and mounting costs can also cause severe stress which destroys lives.” 

And Prime Minister Andy Burnham himself says: “Cowboy builders don’t just rip people off. They leave families with months of stress, the disruption of unfinished work, and that horrible feeling of being taken advantage of. Not only that, but they give the vast majority of decent, hardworking tradespeople a bad name. 

“So we’re putting the cowboys out of business. These changes mean you’ll now have the option to make sure your money is held safely and released bit by bit as the work gets done.”

Ministers have also confirmed longer term plans to overhaul the wider consumer protection landscape. 

This will examine how organisations like Citizens Advice and Trading Standards work with regulators, enforcement bodies and redress schemes to make the system faster, easier to access, and better at spotting and tackling harm early.