Self Build NI current rates

AMG1988

I know this has been covered before but with threads being older & markets changing...


Roughly what is it now per sq.ft to self build? Currently in two minds as to whether to go down the self manage route or contractor. All answers appreciated...

oc75

I've been discussing this on other threads. We are going the contractor route and having spoke to others who have built recently and checked the online forums we had budgeted for £75-85 per sq ft for a complete turn key build to a good standard of finish. We went out to 6 contractors and have got costs in the region of £95-105 per sq ft and that excludes upstairs flooring and a modest budget for kitchen at £10k. 2 didn't submit at all. We are hearing that materials and labour are up 20% in the last 6months and expected to continue. It sounds like tradesmen are getting very well paid south of the border so are very difficult to get north of the border. We were sceptical (as you always hear that costs have went up) so we approached another 2, we heard the same issues from them and in the end they didn't quote. Our circumstances wouldn't allow us to project manage it ourselves.


The research we done confirmed the contractor route was the best way to go, as it allows us to spend time earning to pay the bills but also importantly, juggling all the tradesmen (and deal with them blaming each other) becomes the contractors responsibility as does the liability for defects etc. Very often the contractor will get better rates from tradesmen than you or me as they will use them time and again.


Anyway that's my thoughts.


Remember to consider costs for your NIE connection and septic tanks as early as you can too. You can apply for NIE at any stage once you have planning and it is simple to get their quote.