Advice

Plain-English advice for hiring tradespeople.

Practical guides on choosing well, checking credentials, and spotting trouble early — written to help you judge who to trust, with no ads and no paid placement.

Why nearly every tradesperson has a five-star rating (and how to actually choose)

We analysed 944,548 review scores across four major UK review platforms. More than four in five are a perfect five, and about one in a hundred is a two or lower. That is not fraud. It is a rating system that has stopped being able to rank anyone, and it changes how you should pick. Here is a three-step way to choose when everyone looks the same.

BuilderPlumberElectrician

Do you need an architect to get planning permission in London?

We analysed 630,583 London planning applications. Where you live can swing a home extension's approval odds by 25.9 percentage points, typical decisions take six to eleven weeks, and the "do I need an architect?" question has a more honest answer than most guides will give you.

Architect