TrustMark, the government-endorsed quality mark for tradesmen, has seen a steep increase in the number of tradesmen details on its website since last year.

More than 2.3m search results have been given to homeowners who used TrustMark’s website and telephone helpline to find local tradesmen since the start of the year – an increase of 22% compared to the same period in 2012.

Increased searches were particularly pronounced for certain trade categories, including handymen (55%), heating engineers and plumbers (36%), window installers and glaziers (36%), and carpenters and joiners (35%), mostly due to homeowners choosing to renovate and refresh their properties rather than move on.

June saw the greatest number of firms displayed and all trades were up by 48% compared to the same month last year, and 42% since 2011.

Stuart Carter, head of public relations and marketing at TrustMark, said: “This could be the best time in years for homeowners to spend, mend and extend their properties. Our high number of tradesmen details displayed since January show that many people are still requiring professional experts to do their work, and the trades that have seen the highest increase demonstrate that homeowners are staying put to update and renovate their homes.”

All TrustMark firms’ technical skills have been independently checked through on-site inspections to ensure a high quality of workmanship and trading practices. TrustMark is the only scheme that requires qualified inspectors to do these visits, so that technical competence is checked as well as business practices and customer satisfaction.

TrustMark currently has around 14,900 registered businesses, with some being registered under more than one trade, giving a total of over 23,500 licensed trades represented nationally.