Loft conversion price increase

[organicapricot]

Just wondered if anyone else had the same experience with building work recently? We were quoted for a loft conversion which starts this summer. They have now told us that due to supplier cost increases, cost of materials etc they need to increase our price. I feel like we don't have a choice as we want the work doing, we have paid a deposit and moving to another builder would mean a delay and possibly the same situation anyway. Is this happening now with building work? I'm just nervous they might keep upping it.

It's anyone's guess whether they come back down but due to the complete lack of certainty about anything I'd delay any work that hasn't yet been commenced. It's one thing starting a project knowing that prices are much higher than they were a couple of years ago (but knowing the approximate cost), its quite another being in the middle of it and seeing costs and timescales increasing rapidly week by week so that you don't know where you're going to end up in terms of overall price. There's no way on earth I'd have started if we knew this would happen. It's really stressful.

Yes prices will come back down as these increases aren’t your average 5-10% in some cases it’s more than double the cost of last year

No one will do construction projects if it carries on this way

Speaking to timber suppliers they are hoping for things to settle again in a year but might take 2 for supplies to totally normalise

It’s a mix of China & USA diverting timber normally meant for European market (because they have a shortage too) so we are having to pay premiums to get it here.
It’s a worldwide issue at the moment caused by forced shutdowns leading to less production mix that together with a ship stuck in the Suez Canal a while back, throw Bexit in for a bit of fun and you end up with no building materials and what’s left of them are at a hefty premium

Yes my parents' conversion has come out at double the initial quote. They've gone ahead because they want it done but it's pretty painful.

We're moving house instead!

@FurierTransform they are likely to fall a bit once the global shortages ease off a bit. Covid shutdowns/slowdowns on supply chains, a massive uptick in building globally to restart economies causing massive demand all at once, delays & additional costs due to Brexit paperwork and some one off incidents (Suez Canal, fire in manufacturing plant in China) have all combined to cause perfect storm. Some of this will ease off over time as demand stabilises and prices will fall as they do however some costs will remain higher especially those due to import duties/ administration.

Thing is, this is going to take a while, as there will be a backlog of projects (already is) and the demand will remain high. I also don't think the prices will go back to the pre-pandemic level and as a result, renovating will be a fair bit more expensive than what it already was. That's just my opinion, though, it's hard to have a crystal ball here. It's also hard to stay in an unrenovated place for a few years potentially to then only discover that actually things aren't much cheaper anyway. Even if materials cost drops in a couple of years' time, labour costs will increase by then.

I renovated last year and spent 25% more than quoted/expected for the reasons outlined. If you're committed and can afford the increased price I would go for it - I don't think it will get better any time soon. In some ways this is a good sign that the builders are well organised and want to charge a fair price that will keep them interested to do the job well instead of cutting corners.

As others have said, it is incredibly stressful. We saw the quote for our loft increase enormously but felt we had no choice but to push on as our planning permission was due to expire and we’d just spent a small fortune on party wall agreements that would only last 12 months.

Somehow we have to see this though to the end now (we’re about halfway through) but the cost compared to what I thought it would be is giving me nightmares!

I heard a radio 4 program on this recently and, as everyone says, it's global shortages pushing up prices. Apparently British steel are not even taking more orders until they can fulfil those they have waiting. Cement production has been increased by a third and still isn't close to meeting demand. As a result prices are through the roof.

I was looking to do a garden landscaping project but I've decided to wait until next year in the hope that supply will be meeting demand by then.

I had a single story extension and it cost the same after lockdown as it would have before. There were delays in obtaining certain building materials but nothing huge. Builders should be competent at planning and have accounts via a variety of builders merchants so they can source properly. But this depends on you too, you need to be in a position to commit quickly - mine had already ordered the steel beams we needed before officially starting the project to take into account lead times because we had an architect do the plans and would have kept them even if that builder wasn’t the one we ultimately used.

@Ozanj it's not about competency in planning at the moment. It's an unprecedented situation with global shortages that's only come into its own in the past few months. Projects coming to an end now aren't as affected as those starting. Glad your project went well.

All sounds a bit daunting really. We do need to go ahead unfortunately as we need the space. In some ways I'd rather get in now incase it just gets worse. Thanks for all your comments, I've obviously been a bit naive on all this so it's been interesting.

You're not alone in being naive, I genuinely did not have a clue before we started our major renovation project. Loft conversion is still ahead but this part won't be done now because we can't stretch that far. I am both hopeful that in few years' time things will be more normal, but also dreading it in case it costs even more! It's a tough one, OP. Ultimately we have to do what we can and what's right for us & our families.

It’s not about being naive. This is unprecedented.

I don't think you're being naive either op! I think that builders have never got as much demand for their work as they do now - many struggle with the stress levels and the impossible planning themselves! It also means that if things go wrong they're more likely to wash their hands off it than before - there's loads of new jobs waiting!

I had to renovate last year (bought a doer-upper) but if it was optional/desirable work rather than an absolute must, then I would try to delay it in the hope that things will calm down in 2 years or so.

Here's a chart of Lumber futures:
uk.investing.com/commodities/lumber
Hovering at 250-400'ish for many years, currently $1330.

Ultimately it's not that difficult to cut down & process more trees & exactly that will happen with such high profits on the table. I'd definitely try & wait it out of you can.

There’s a strong chance this feeds through to house prices too.

First because the cost for developers will also rocket and they need to keep their margins, second because renovating is a less appealing alternative to moving than it has been to date.

@DelilahTheParrot

There’s a strong chance this feeds through to house prices too.

First because the cost for developers will also rocket and they need to keep their margins, second because renovating is a less appealing alternative to moving than it has been to date.

Do you mean you think house prices will go down as people would have to factor in more to extend, or do you meant that the price of fully extended houses will go up as people will pay more to avoid the hassle and increased expense of doing it themselves?

Of course it will feed through into house prices. The cost of building new builds will increase, in order to retain profit margins prices will go up plus some people will take the view that if extending is so expensive they might as well move. Thus prices increase as demand increases. House builders are affected by this in just the same way as those doing renovations and extensions.

Doer upper prices won't drop because of this. Prices of done up houses will inevitably increase further and as pp said, so will the prices of new builds. So the gap between the doer-uppers and done up/new houses will remain the same, but in reality all will become more expensive and then probably stagnate as they're getting so expensive already that it cannot continue endlessly.

It’s not the builder upping the price. This is a genuine issue at the moment.

We are planning an extension And can’t even get a ballpark cost from our builder because he’s having to re quote jobs constantly. It’s terrible!

Yes timber is double the price, same with concrete.

Paying double for concrete kickboards on our quote from 3 months ago, plus a 5 week delay to supply...

Bloody Brexit! :(

Yup.

Prices for basic materials have sky rocketed

House prices are going up around us in a nuts sort of way too. Houses on the market for maybe 2 or 3 days, bidding 'wars' between first 2 viewers (out of 50 requests for viewings). Mad.

We're in the middle of an extension. Price has gone up around 30% since original quote, but we can swallow it. We've reduced the amount of work to compensate - ie, not having the garage converted as in the original quote.

I’m getting quotes at the moment. I thought they were fixed price (not estimate) at the time the work is agreed... why has your price gone up whilst work is underway @RuleWithAWoodenFoot?

Unless the signed contract states it's a fixed price a quote may fluctuate if costs rise, scope changes etc. I always ensure contracts stipulate that any price rises or extra costs are discussed and agreed in writing prior to going ahead with that bit of work so it doesn't come as a shock to clients.