Government Guidelines for Trades & Home Improvements

On 28 August 2026, the government announced new measures aimed at rogue "cowboy" builders. Two separate things are being introduced:

• The Approved Code — a voluntary scheme letting traders demonstrate they meet higher standards of customer service, transparency and dispute resolution. It's being developed jointly by the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. The first traders join by the end of September 2026, with the scheme fully live by December 2026.
• Trusted Payments — a separate app-based payment system (built by a company called Trusted Payments) that holds your money safely and releases it in stages linked to project milestones, similar to a tenant deposit protection scheme. This goes live in early September 2026, with over 100,000 traders expected to have access by the end of that month.

Worth knowing: both schemes are voluntary. Several industry bodies, including the Federation of Master Builders, have welcomed the move but pointed out that rogue traders can simply choose not to sign up — it isn't a legal requirement or a licensing system.

Read the official GOV.UK announcement · Trusted Payments

Source: GOV.UK official announcement, independently verified 28 August 2026.

1. Check the business — make sure you know who you're dealing with and how to contact them.
2. Check qualifications and accreditation — where relevant, check professional qualifications, registrations and recognised schemes (e.g. Gas Safe for gas work, NICEIC for electrical work).
3. Check insurance — ask whether the business has appropriate insurance for the work being carried out.
4. Get a written quote — make sure the work, materials, price and payment schedule are clear.
5. Be careful with large upfront payments — understand when payments are due and what each one covers. Consider whether a milestone-based system like Trusted Payments (above) is available.
6. Keep records — quotes, invoices, messages, contracts and photographs of the work.
7. Check dispute arrangements — know what happens if something goes wrong, before the work starts.

1. Who exactly is the business and how can I contact them?
2. Can you provide a written quote describing the work and total price?
3. What is included and what could cost extra?
4. Do you have appropriate insurance for this work?
5. Are you registered or accredited for any part of this job that requires it?
6. Can I see recent examples or references for similar work?
7. What payment schedule do you propose, and what does each payment cover?
8. What guarantee or warranty applies, and can I have it in writing?
9. Who will actually carry out the work if subcontractors are involved?

Good practice: Citizens Advice recommends comparing written quotes and checking qualifications, insurance and recognised schemes before committing to home improvement work.

• Pressure to agree immediately or claims that an offer is available only today.
• A surprisingly low price that changes once work begins.
• Refusal to provide a written quote, contract or receipt.
• Requests for a large cash payment before the scope of work is clear.
• Claims of accreditation that you cannot independently verify.
• Cold-calling followed by pressure to start work immediately.
• Unclear business identity, no proper contact details or reluctance to provide references.

For consumer protection advice, see Citizens Advice: find a trader and check you can trust them.

If a trader has broken the law, pressured you unfairly, or taken payment without doing the work, you can report them to Trading Standards. Hounslow Council's own Trading Standards team doesn't take reports directly — like most London boroughs, reports are routed through the national Citizens Advice consumer service, which passes relevant cases on to Hounslow's Trading Standards officers.

Citizens Advice consumer helpline: 0808 223 1133 (Welsh language: 0808 223 1144)

Hounslow Council: Trading Standards · Citizens Advice: reporting to Trading Standards

Source: London Borough of Hounslow official website (hounslow.gov.uk) and Citizens Advice, checked 29 August 2026.

Bigger jobs — extensions, loft conversions, some outbuildings and structural changes — may need planning permission and/or building regulations approval, separately from finding a good tradesperson. Many home improvements fall under "permitted development" and don't need a full application, but this depends on your specific property and, in some cases, whether it's in a conservation area.

• Check first: use the Planning Portal's interactive guidance to understand permitted development rights for your project.
• Apply, if needed: planning applications for Feltham addresses are submitted to the London Borough of Hounslow, not a national body.
• Building regulations are a separate legal requirement from planning permission and commonly apply to structural work, electrics, and gas installations even when planning permission itself isn't needed.

Planning Portal: common home improvement projects · Hounslow Council: apply for planning permission

Source: Planning Portal (planningportal.co.uk) and London Borough of Hounslow official website (hounslow.gov.uk), checked 29 August 2026.

Register your local business

If you run a genuine local trade or home-improvement business serving Feltham, you can submit your business for consideration. We will ask for the information needed to create an accurate listing and may verify details before publication.

• Business name and trading name
• Main service or trade category
• Feltham/TW13/TW14 coverage and other areas served
• Phone, email and website
• Business address where appropriate
• Opening hours and emergency availability, if genuinely offered
• Qualifications, registrations, memberships and accreditations where applicable
• Insurance evidence or other supporting information where relevant

Important: submitting a business does not automatically mean it will be published as verified. FelthamDeals will distinguish between information supplied by a business, information independently checked, and third-party accreditations.

Register / Free Business Listing →

Our aim is to make the directory useful without pretending that a website listing is a government licence or guarantee.

• Identity: we check the business name and available contact information.
• Local relevance: we check that the business serves Feltham or the stated local area.
• Source: we prefer the business's own current website or other reliable source.
• Accreditation: where claimed, we try to check the relevant external register or scheme.
• Freshness: we record when information was checked and avoid presenting old information as current.
• Corrections: businesses and residents can report incorrect or outdated information.

We do not describe a business as government-approved, insured, qualified or accredited unless there is evidence for that specific claim.

Rather than a single "Trusted" badge, every tradesperson profile on FelthamDeals shows exactly what we've confirmed and when:

Where a tradesperson holds an accreditation like the Approved Code above, we'll state what it is, who awarded it, and when we last confirmed it — not just display a badge.