Will a recession be a good time to get building work done?

[NewNormalLife]

We've been dreaming of an extension since we moved in a year ago and have a portion of money set aside but probably not enough for everything so compromises would need to be made. I cant decide whether we should go for it and get plans drawn up etc or whether it's a stupid idea in a recession with hugely rising costs.

I'm on maternity leave atm but in a stable job as is DH. We have 2 small children. The money is in premium bonds atm so not earning a great deal. I feel like we either need to go for it or give up
and pay it into the mortgage (although it wouldn't put us in a lower ltv)

I am in the middle of an extension. I moved house last year and the kitchen was tiny and old. I couldn’t live with it the way it was for very long, and didn’t want to spend the money on a new kitchen knowing at some point in the future I would extend so I just went for it.

things are more expensive - and are taking longer to order. But I’m not sure things will get significantly cheaper any time soon.

i priced my built in appliances I. August and ordered them yesterday. The oven and built in microwave were £100 dearer - in three months!!!!!

builders are still very busy where I am. I went to a radiator shop and the owner was saying business is booming. It all seems strange considering interest rates and energy prices.

I would expect business to tail off as the recession progresses. As people stop buying new homes, tighten their belts, worry about jobs and bills, they will spend less on non-essentials. It depends how long you're willing to wait.

The construction trade isn’t currently experiencing a recession; business is booming. Materials are still high and good workmen are in demand. If you’re only at quote stage, you’re probably looking next summer to get a good builder. Worth getting some done now and then you have a figure to work from and can save accordingly.

Do you need planning permission? Things are slow - all this working from home! Getting the plans drawn up and permission in place doesn’t tie you to do the work immediately, but waiting with an architect will give you an idea of what ball park cost you are looking at.

my architect told me it would cost £50k to build my extension - it’s £60k (including electrics and plumbing) so he want too far off.

We did building work in last recession and this one (so far!) is very different. Last time there was a VAT reduction and the builder was desperate for work so started within weeks of our purchase completing. This time trades still seem busy (although our project this time started earlier due to a cancellation) and materials costs seem to be getting higher and higher.

You could get the plans drawn up and then apply for planning permission? That'll take a while but the plans mean you can then get quotes done and see what you can afford.

My DP is a builder (an excellent one, she says loyally, who is booked up well into next year) and he says things are def quieting down. He runs his own company - employing about 15 people - and it had been MURDER getting people for the last few years. Now, it's suddenly getting a lot easier to find people. So... He also says supply costs are coming down. Slowly, but they are coming down.

@chocolatevelvet whereabouts in the country are you? We’ve got quite a large building company and it’s not quiet here yet (Yorkshire) far from it. Still got cancellation lists for a wide range of jobs and frequent emails to check if we’ve any earlier availability. We bulk ordered steel last week and that’s not showing any sign of coming down yet.

We're in the south west. It's def not quiet - don't get me wrong - and prices aren't coming down much, but they are coming down a bit. It's just been a lot easier to get labour etc. Basically, the mad pressure there was is easing. And looking forward - say - a year, you can see that things might look quite different.

Thanks for your views. I'm thinking we'll get plans drawn up in the new year and see how we go. We've had one builder over to give approximate costs which do seem pretty high bit he had indicated that there is more stock availability that there has been, so I'm really hoping prices don't keep rising as much.

Construction inflation across the supply chain is at an time high.

Cons are: you'll find it hard to get a fixed price for 100% of the work. Prices you are quoted today could rise at between 9-25% on average depending on the material. Steel, copper piping and glass for example all at the top end of that estimate. Worth looking at the construction inflation indexes to see what is going on Z

Pros: although inflation is predicted to go back to normal levels around mid 2024 it's not certain the prices will fall, to what extent and to what timeframe, so building now and quickly could save you money

I think builders are starting to get a lot of cancellations. Every builder I speak to at the moment seems to say ‘we’re available as we’ve just had a big job fall through’. Material costs aren’t coming down but I expect labour will next year.

@mobear exercise caution with this line. It’s a well known phrase used by those who aren’t in demand and there’s only 1 reason tradesmen aren’t in demand and it’s because they’re awful.
Obviously, this won’t be the case for all of them but definitely do your research.

All our employees & subbies are booked until well into next summer, many of those include weekends. It’s still very, very busy.

@NCFT0922 Thanks for the word of caution NCFT, but these are all well vetted builders, and I’ve also heard it through our architect. Maybe the trend has hit London first, but people don’t seem to be as easily ready to part with money given the uncertain financial circumstances and want to put off work to see how things play out, understandably I think.

Even with recession material and labour costs will stall not fall so it's unlikely to ever be cheaper, perhaps not rise in a year though. House prices may dip though.

How long can you wait? Interest rates rises haven't hit & there are tax hikes to come. 2024 will be very different

Yes definitely we got a lot of redundancy money in 2008 so I upgraded to the boiler in the central heating and the installation and to be honest I paid normal prices to help somebody in the local community. 12 months later though it would’ve been significantly cheaper.

Exactly our circumstances. Had about 10k of work booked in on our London terrace which I’ve literally just cancelled. I was very honest with the tradesman that I need that cash in the bank, as it’s the only buffer we’ve got after completing in the Summer.