How much deposit is normal?

[LockdownLisa]

Work is scheduled to start on our house around 9 June. We're renovating the upstairs of house, including 2 new bathrooms and there will also be some groundwork. It will cost around £37k (including VAT) - the bathrooms are quite high end, so that will be a fairly large part of the cost (not sure if that's relevant).

Our builder is asking for a 50% deposit, to be paid now, 2 months before they start. Is that normal? It's a listed building, we've struggled to find anybody else to do the work and we really don't want to piss them off before we start, but neither do I want to potentially lose £18k!

Their reviews are good, but I'm not sure how meaningful that is. Any advice, please?

We had some work done last year and I think we were asked for 10% paid to secure the booking. 50% does sound like a big chunk but are they sourcing your bathrooms? If so, could it be that the initial 50% is to cover the cost of that if they need to be ordered in advance?

Thanks for your response. Yes, they are - the building company works with a bathroom company (showroom, established for a few years, lots of good reviews) and we chose the bathroom through them but we are paying for everything to the building company. The bathrooms will have cost several £ks each.

I think we're going to have to bite the bullet and just pay it 🙈.