If there’s a recession, high inflation etc should I stop my plans for house extension?

[Mydoghealsmyheart]

I really don’t understand about inflation, recession, high interest rates etc but I’m wondering if I should pause my plans for building plans for an extension, new kitchen etc? I know that building costs, materials etc will cost more so I don’t know if I should stop our project before it’s begun. We have very limited funds and I am so worried that we start something and then cannot afford to continue.

Some are saying asap. They’re all builders with recommendations. Just received our 3rd new quote back which is £35k under budget. Totally in shock by this! We will definitely build if we can get for this price

@recessionssuck123 tread very, very carefully with people available to start immediately. All our gangs are booked til at least next May, some are mid summer 2023 and numerous quotes are still going our daily. No sign of prices or demand dropping anytime soon. Material prices still going up.

If tradesmen are available immediately they’re not good. If you can get a roofer (or a builder or whatever) to start in the next six weeks, you don’t want them. Good people are booked 8 months minimum in advance .

The more I read on here, the more I think we have to press pause on the build. It’s so frustrating but we couldn’t afford to absorb higher costs.

@InterestQ completely agree. Theres always a reason these people don’t have work!

Yep. We think we are looking at spring 2024 for ours as we will only be ready to go out for quotes in autumn (finalising plans with architect then got to submit to planning etc).

as we are having sort of 2 distinct bits done (3rd floor which is mainly re-configuration, new stairs, add bathroom) then bottom floor (extension, knocking walls down, new kitchen), it may be that the “good” builders (recommendations from the architect and a friend who is a surveyor) have a small window to do 3rd floor as reckon that’s couple weeks work or less, but certainly not expecting the large stuff to be done before spring 2024 (presuming we go ahead obvs though it is needed)

There is quite a lot of misinformation on this thread. All prices do not rise at the same time equally.

Good builders may be available already - look at the number of people on this thread who have recently cancelled work. If it fits in, they might take your project next week.

I recently shelved a small project that I was hoping to do this autumn (some internal walls down etc) because it was becoming so hard to price: building materials are subject to a lot of shipping issues, cost increases are just not known 3/4months out. Any money you spend may not be recouped in house value (where prices are likely to flatline for a while). The whole thing just made me feel uneasy and that with chaotic lead times I might be left with a half-done project for months.

Sure, and we would be very wary normally it’s just that out of 10 builders that come recommended by our engineer who has worked with them for 20 years and sent through their credentials which we’re now checking out (e.g booking in for previous work visits today etc.) about 5 of them are saying they can start in next two months. The 6th has said March start. In November when we approached other builders they were saying they were busy for 8 months, not responding or saying were too busy. We’ve now had 4 new quotes back. They’re turning them around within 48 hours from site meeting and are all very responsive (confirming appointments and replying quickly to messages - like all of them). They’re mostly itemised quotes so none of this 2.5k per sq m rubbish which is impossible to work with. Perhaps I’ve just got a better set of builders quoting for me OR it’s a reflection of recent announcements in the economy. I don’t know!

@Louise0701 i meant to tag you in my msg

We are about to have our roof redone - house is quite a big renovation project so we are in it for ‘the long haul’! We’ve been waiting to start the roof since before covid- we paid the builder the deposit and ordered/paid for all the materials during the pandemic. Delayed since then whilst waiting for everything to be delivered etc. Builder is starting 5th Sept and we are deffo going ahead - I think we got the materials at the right time price wise. The velux windows have gone up 30% in price since we bought. We bought this house v cheaply and so it’s not a stretch for us to renovate it. If I felt we were stretching financially I would rethink. X

Definitely agree this is the right call in your situation. You're already stretching yourselves, don't have much buffer and have no idea what it might end up costing.

There are some circumstances where it would make sense to get the work done, basically if you could go ahead now, knew what it would cost and had a decent cushion, because inflation is liable to make these things a lot more expensive at least in the short term. But for you OP, I think you are making the right call here.

And if the work has to be done like @sjxoxo. Nobody has their roof done just because they fancy it.

Yeah you probably don't want a dodgy roof at this point in time either!

I feel you OP. We bough a small house with the intention to extend. When viewing, we brought an architect with us and the cost of extending seemed reasonable and cheaper than buying a bigger house in our area. We already had planning permission approved and paid all the architect fees but came to realise in no way we will be able to afford the extension now. It is not logical as it would now actually be cheaper to to just buy a bigger house than extend.

And just overall, I was shocked how much we ended up paying some joiners even though we did not get that much work done. Scared to imagine what it would be like with an extension now! Happy to stay in the small house and make it work long-term. Being minimalistic helps!
I wish you the best OP and everyone else who had their plans put on hold and hope you all get houses you love 💐

We are going to go ahead. Work starts in 2 weeks time. The costs of the building work are going down and the materials costs are less than last year. We are going to economise in other ways - I am fine with this but Dp is far worse at not spending money than me so I think the next 6 months will be v tough! We are going to have to manage the build cost v carefully as I can't afford for it to go over the amount I've budgeted (plus the contingency!).

We've lived in an in refurbished house for a year and I just couldn't do another year in it.

In an unrefurbished (no heating etc)

OMG that's insane!

No heating must've been tough 💐

Thank you Pancake92 for those kind words. We’ve also paid £1200 architect fees and another £1000 will be due at the next stage of the build project. Together with almost £300 for planning application! So we’ve spent £1500 already and it shows how costs can spiral so quickly and have nothing to show for it. I’m so pleased you’re happy in your home, it’s what we all hope for. 💐

Thanks @Pancake92 . It's a beautiful old Victorian terrace that hasn't been touched since the 1950s but has 2 extensions out the back made of wood and roofed with that hard plastic stuff! Luckily we have planning to rebuild them (didn't think we would get it) so it's really a big refurbishment project (rebuild the back, re plumb the house, re plaster, re decorate).

@Mydoghealsmyheart it's probably worth getting planning now and then you can start the project whenever you're ready. There's normally a time limit they give you (to start) but it's usually v generous.

@Mydoghealsmyheart ours took much longer than I thought and we should have started earlier (we needed Thames water approval as well as planning then needed a visit from building control etc., party wall, structural survey). All in all took 6 months fgs!

I would love to know where are the builders are who are available to do any work on houses at the moment. I have lost count of the numbers of builders I have contacted to do work on my house - and it's a big project - worth at least 25K. All essential work - I would not be doing any kitchen/ bathroom refits that were not really needed at the moment.

Of the builders I did manage to get a reply from all four have failed to turn up when they said they would to look at the house. It is beyond frustrating. I wanted this work done before the weather sets in for the winter - I have been trying to get this done since March.

I can only assume that builders in the area have plenty of work, or that the building trade is already suffering and some of the local firms have gone under. Everywhere I look there is scaffolding up on houses in the area - some of it has been there for months, with little sign of work being done.

We had a builder who came round last summer just to discuss the project and he gave a rough cost then of £30-40K. Now he’s saying it could be upwards of £60K which scares me so much. How much more will it increase by the time plans are approved, materials ordered and their wait times etc. And all the time the interest rate will likely be rising, so too inflation. Throw in energy rises and, for us, it’s simply a no can do.