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Retailers of home improvement products are enjoying a glittering year on the London stock market, as cash-strapped UK consumers turn to DIY<\/a> projects after being priced out of shifting home or undertaking expensive renovations.<\/p>\n Publicly listed retailers including the B&Q owner Kingfisher<\/a>, Topps Tiles, Wickes and the sofa seller DFS are on track for double-digit percentage share price increases of as much as 56% this year.<\/p>\n Kingfisher and Topps Tiles have posted share price increases of 26.5% and 13% respectively, their best annual gains since the pandemic, while a 23% year-to-date rise at DFS is its strongest year since 2019.<\/p>\n Kingfisher, which also operates in France and Poland, has issued two profit upgrades since September on the back of the company\u2019s strong performance in the UK.<\/p>\n The biggest winner is Wickes, a leading retailer of paint, whose shares have risen 56% in its best year since listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2021.<\/p>\n Retailers in the home improvement sector have been aided by the closure of their rival Homebase<\/a>, which collapsed into administration in November last year.<\/p>\n Analysts have pointed to a stagnant housing market: Halifax, the UK\u2019s biggest mortgage lender, reported flat growth in house prices in November <\/a>and a significant slowdown in annual growth to 0.7%, down from 1.9% in the same month last year.<\/p>\n Slowing house price growth reflects weaker buyer demand, as cash-stretched consumers turned their focus to cheaper DIY projects to spruce up their existing homes.<\/p>\n Measures introduced in last month\u2019s budget, including increasing the minimum wage and changes to property taxes<\/a>, could further spur the DIY market as the cost of activities such as eating out increases.<\/p>\n \u201cThat may drive a continued shift toward eating and spending more time at home,\u201d Manjari Dhar, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, told Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that spending on household goods has often outpaced wider retail sales this year.<\/a><\/p>\n However, ONS figures show that the rate of unemployment hit a four-year high of 5.1% in the three months to October, which could dampen the DIY boom.<\/p>\n While home improvement goods retailers have experienced a stellar year, the share prices of building materials suppliers have lagged, suggesting some homeowners have also put large home renovation projects on the back burner.<\/p>\n Shares in the kitchen supplier Howden Joinery Group have risen by 5% this year, while Travis Perkins has suffered an 11% fall.<\/p>\n