Fear of being ripped off by "cowboy" builders must not deter homeowners from carrying out essential repair work to their houses, trading standards chiefs warned today.

Officers in North Yorkshire spoke out after a report said mistrust of builders and surveyors and worries about high costs put many people off doing the work - letting problems get worse - or led them to try to do it themselves.

The report, funded by the York-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation, prompted York's trading standards department to advise householders not to delay work and to take steps to check out builders if they feel worried.

The report said that in many cases, people were more concerned about finding a builder they could trust than getting the best price.They were worried that unreliable builders would carry out poor work, leave a mess, put up costs as the job went on, have a bad attitude, or be reluctant to sort out problems that developed after they left.

Another problem revealed in the report was ignorance about the long-term costs of putting off maintenance work.

Although owners were able to spot routine repair work that needed doing, many were unable to diagnose major or more technical work.

Reluctance to call in surveyors or other professionals to give advice was based on experience of limited valuation surveys required by mortgage lenders which left people with the impression that a surveyor's report would be costly and uninformative.

The report, by Professor Philip Leather of South Bank University and Professor Moira Munro, of Heriot-Watt University, called for the setting up of a scheme for "recommended" builders, based on stringent vetting and an agreed disputes procedure to help owners find a reliable builder.

Mortgage lenders and the Government could also help by raising awareness of the importance of keeping homes in good repair and offering advice and information on dealing with problems.

Colin Rumford, head of trading standards at the City of York Council, said: "Our message to people is they should not put off having work done.

"The best way is to ask any builder that they are thinking of engaging about work done elsewhere and check with those people, like checking for references. Or ask friends about building work they have had done."

He said there was no independent list of recommended builders in the York area, although there were various industry lists of firms belonging to building organisations like the Federation of Master Builders.

"It could be something worth looking into if there was a demand for it," he said

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