Tradesman/gardeners

[ElenaSt]

Is there a problem with tradesmen/gardeners/handyman at the moment?

I have two older relatives who need work doing and it's nigh on impossible to get anyone to turn up.

One needs a whole new side fence which has come down and her neighbours are constantly asking her when it's going to be done. (Not nastily, they cant let their children play out unsupervised until fence is replaced) It's making her feel stressed as she has been given two dates and the guy cancelled saying his van hasn't come back from its MOT. Weeks have gone by and he regularly tells her he can't make it yet but will be coming.

Second relative had a gardener who retired and she can't get one for love nor money! Everyone is fully booked in her area according to those she has contacted.

Not women are old, on their own, no relatives nearby and need this work done ASAP.

They all seem to be run off their feet at the moment and have been for a while. I suspect that might change quite soon so she might be able to get something booked in shortly.

My DP is a gardener, he works 7 days a week at the moment and is asked every day if he's taking on new customers! He physically can't work any more hours but people practically beg him to come and do work for them. Just a normal area too, lots of older people, not particularly affluent.

Ok thank you for replies. It does seem to be a thing then.

I've spent 30 years looking for a gardener and still haven't found one. Around here (the Cotswolds) they seem to get plenty of work working on grand houses

Omg it's exactly the same around here! All these fences coming down in the recent storms (since Feb) haven't helped either.

It took me years to find a gardener. Lots promised to come but never turned up.
The guy I have lives in the village but is very unreliable, doesn't know a weed from a plant and isn't cheap. He does come and cut the grass and hedges, just not as often as I'd like. He sometimes rings me (he lives 100m away) to say it's raining and I can look out of the window and see it's dry🤷‍♀️.

Try looking for a roofer.. took me 6 months to get someone to do a reasonably simple job. No idea what's happening with tradesmen at the moment.. they all must be rolling in tenners if they can all afford to be so unreliable. And if so, how? Cos nobody I know can get work done?