This comes from a report from the Citizens Advice Bureau called ‘Built to Fail: How the home repairs market is failing consumers’.

The report found that more than a quarter (28%) of people who hired a trader for home repairs or improvements in the last 18 months experienced a problem, with those who lost money losing a median of £750, with 11% losing more than £5,000.

As such, one of the Citizens Advice Bureau’s main recommendations was for a mandatory licensing framework for builders to be introduced.

“Introducing mandatory licensing for traders could provide a crucial policy lever to establish and maintain binding standards of competence, professionalism and consumer protection across the home repairs market,” read the report.

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“It should harness existing expertise and infrastructure, for example through a hub-and-spoke model in which a single construction regulator sets standards and provides oversight, while approved scheme providers act as the route through which traders obtain and maintain accreditation and standards of professionalism and consumer protection are enforced.”

However, the report warned against licensing being seen as a “silver bullet” and argued it needed to fulfill three criteria to be effective.

These are a need to send a strong signal to consumers, reflect genuine compliance with standards and provide fair value for consumers.

"This report confirms what we've been saying for years — that consumers are being let down by a fragmented, voluntary system that simply isn't fit for purpose,” said Brian Berry, CEO at the FMB.

“Now the government needs to act.

“Every week without action is another week that vulnerable homeowners are exposed to rogue traders."