How much have building prices gone up on London?

[almahart]

Our house needs lots of work, new kitchen, bathroom and either an extension or a loft conversion. We had some quotes a few years ago and are finally in a position to proceed but I'm dreading a horrible shock.

How bad is it at the moment?

Well, we had quotes last year that were double what we were expecting - and no one could start for months. Hopefully it's calmed down now. (We've put our work off.)

A lot. Basically double vs 2 years ago.

currently have a partial rear extension of 3x3 which is crap wanted to knock it and do 7 x 3.5 (why did they only go to 3m?!?!)
We absolutely cannot afford it.

We have a total budget of £100k which will likely cover

A 3x4 extension to fully extend across (keeping the current partial rear extension of 3x3)

• Knocking a pantry wall non load bearing into the utility
• old kitchen will be used to fit out pantry

-reflooring the ground floor (will be mid range flooring)

• a howden or similar kitchen.

I wish we had just done it when we moved
We are booked in for next may/june

I'd say prices up minimum 15% on pre covid/Brexit times.

Materials hard to come by.

Builders in demand.

Long wait times for builders and materials.

I'd avoid doing it now if you can, but I doubt prices will drop. When do prices ever drop?!

Decent tradesmen are booked up really far in advance. Materials have increased in price and some are becoming increasingly difficult to actually get hold of.

@LivingLaVidaBabyShower

A lot. Basically double vs 2 years ago.

currently have a partial rear extension of 3x3 which is crap wanted to knock it and do 7 x 3.5 (why did they only go to 3m?!?!)
We absolutely cannot afford it.

We have a total budget of £100k which will likely cover

A 3x4 extension to fully extend across (keeping the current partial rear extension of 3x3)

• Knocking a pantry wall non load bearing into the utility
• old kitchen will be used to fit out pantry

-reflooring the ground floor (will be mid range flooring)

• a howden or similar kitchen.

I wish we had just done it when we moved
We are booked in for next may/june

How much are they charging for the build of the 3x4 extension?

I agree with everyone else. Everything seems to have doubled. The price of labour has doubled as has the raw materials. If you can wait, do!

I am not sure if waiting will help much. I have never seen builders or materials drop in price. Once a benchmark has been set and they know people are willing to pay, that's it. There might be a slight reduction in costs if demand dries right up, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

If you can wait 2 years or so, maybe it might be worth it. But I don't see the situation resolving itself in 2021, 2022 or 2023. Most good builders are booked up for 2022 summer already, and demand is still crazy.

@singtome
Thats the ball park figure we are still finalising architect plan so i dont have a detailed quote.

What i would say is the company we are using are def not the cheapest (they are very good though)

This is depressing reading! It honestly might be cheaper to move to get the space we need in that case

I think it really depends on what work you're doing. Certain materials have gone up exponentially. We recently started contacting builders for their availability and, out of ten, two (who were both personal recommendations) could start in September or October, which was a lot earlier than I expected. That said, it's a large renovation in a vacant house with side access so it's probably very appealing to builders.

Are you in London/South East @mobear?

I wonder if there is a location difference at all.

@NewHouseNewMe We’re in West London. A few of the builders I contacted didn’t want to work outside East/ North London but I think did have availability in those areas. I guess with so much work about they can choose to be fussy on location.

It’s crazy how much everything to do with the building industry has increased! But honestly I don’t see costs going back down again, until demand massively decreases. They’ll probably just keep going up, so next year & 2023 will be even more expensive than now.