You've found a builder. They seem professional. They gave you a quote on headed paper and asked for a deposit before they start. This is the moment most people get it wrong.
Patrick Coll, a project manager who spent the past year working through the fallout from abandoned jobs, has put a figure on it. "Over the past year, we have assisted in resolving two projects in which rogue builders took more than £2 million from homeowners and developers before abandoning the work," he says. In both cases the builders had come across as professional. The problems only became visible once someone looked at the paperwork.
Most people don't look properly. And the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) now has the number to prove it: homeowners across the South West have lost nearly £500 million to rogue and unqualified builders over the past five years. Not a projection. Not a worst case. Money paid, work abandoned, no recourse.
One in every twelve households in the region has been caught. The FMB mapped the losses constituency by constituency — and every single one in the region recorded more than £7.6 million in losses over the period.
Where the losses were highest
The FMB published an interactive constituency-level map alongside its research. The hardest-hit areas in the region recorded losses approaching £10 million each over the five-year period.
| Constituency | Est. losses (5 years) |
|---|---|
| Gloucester | £9.9 million |
| Plymouth Sutton and Devonport | £9.7 million |
| Bournemouth West | £9.6 million |
| Filton and Bradley Stoke | £9.5 million |
| Swindon South | £9.5 million |
| All other constituencies | £7.6 million+ |
"From Bristol to Bournemouth, from Truro to Taunton — no part of the South West is immune."
Iain Kirtley, FMB Director for South of EnglandMapping it this way matters. It shows this is not a city problem or a deprived-area problem. Bournemouth West sits next to Frome and East Somerset in the data. Rural, urban, coastal — it makes no difference.
Why younger homeowners are most at risk
The FMB also surveyed homeowners on how they find and vet builders. The age split is stark — and it goes a long way to explaining why first-time buyers and recent movers are getting caught more often.
| How they hire | Under 35 | Over 55 |
|---|---|---|
| Rely on online reviews | 33% | 16% |
| Use comparison platforms | 24% | — |
| Judge on website and branding | 20% | — |
| Verify trade body membership | 8% | 21% |
| Verify formal qualifications | 15% | 27% |
Older homeowners are more likely to verify trade body membership or check formal qualifications before work begins. Younger homeowners are largely going on signals that a cowboy builder can put together in a weekend: a Google profile stocked with reviews, a comparison platform listing that nobody has vetted, a website that was live three weeks before they knocked on your door.
Online reviews can be fabricated. Comparison platforms carry no regulatory obligation to vet who they list. A professional-looking website costs under £100 to build. None of these are checks — they're appearances.
How to check a builder before you pay
The FMB is calling for a mandatory "Licence to Build" scheme that would require builders to meet recognised competency standards before carrying out domestic work. The argument is straightforward: anyone can currently pick up a trowel and call themselves a builder. No licence, no registration, no verifiable standard required.
"Nearly half a billion pounds lost in the South West alone. That is the price of an unregulated industry that lets anyone pick up a trowel."
Brian Berry, FMB Chief ExecutiveUntil that changes, the checks fall to you. A Before You Pay check runs most of these automatically — but whether you use a service or go manual, these are the things worth verifying:
Companies House registration — Is the business actually registered? How long has it been trading? A company incorporated last month has no history to check. Directors can be verified for disqualification status in seconds via the official register.
Trade body membership — FMB, Gas Safe, NICEIC: these require vetting to join. A membership number takes under a minute to confirm on the public register. If they can't provide one, that's useful information too.
Director history — Has this person dissolved previous companies? Are they operating under a different name elsewhere? Multiple dissolved companies in a short window is a pattern worth understanding before any deposit leaves your account.
The quote itself — Cash only, no company name on the paperwork, a deposit request above a third of the total job value. These are documented patterns across rogue builder cases — not coincidences.
Domain and website age — A business claiming ten years of experience whose website was registered last month deserves an explanation. Domain registration dates are publicly visible in the RDAP register.
FMB South West Rogue Builder Research — June 2026
Constituency-level breakdown, interactive map, and full methodology from the Federation of Master Builders.
Check before you pay
Run a Companies House identity check, director history, disqualified director search, domain intelligence, and quote red flag scan — before any deposit leaves your account.
Verify A Tradesperson — £5Source: Federation of Master Builders — South West rogue builder research, June 2026. Homeowner hiring behaviour data from FMB national research published alongside the regional report. Constituency-level figures from the FMB's interactive map. Patrick Coll quote via industry reporting (Collstone Developments). FMB spokesperson quotes sourced via trade press coverage of the research release.