Freaking out as building costs go up and up and up - advice needed

tegmim

ThisIsWeird said:

Not sure why you paid him upfront to complete the work, tho'!

I paid the cost to finish one building up front, as a sign of good faith really, to give him funds to pay staff to finish off the cladding and deal with the snagging list stuff, before we moved onto the main house.

tegmim

moneysaver1978 said:

tegmim said:

However, six months later the pandemic demand for builders seems to have reduced with the interest rate hike, so we have been able to get new quotes to do the work on the house that are much better. 

Thanks for the update and glad it's all working out in the end for you!

However I am surprised about the demand. It's been a struggle to get builder in for quotes (even in the last few months), we have had a couple who informed us that they wouldn't even visit for projects costing less than 100K.

We had 4 quotes back in 2019 before we started work - no problems getting people out or start dates within a few months. I called at least eight firms in September 2023 and struggled to even get them out to quote. Lots citing lead times of 18 months, some didn't show up, many calls not returned.

I called about six firms in early December, only the very big firms said they could do prep work in under six months, with a premium price. I got one to finish the loose end Nick left, as they said verbally they could do the house in our budget. But I quickly saw that they were charging a lot more whilst being less effective in taking work off my hands - they promised to call the building regs inspector to clarify something, but didn't. They promised to chase the electrician for certification, but didn't. They promised to clarify something with the planners, but didn't. Then they gave us a quote 60% higher than the verbal one, and told us to start the design process from scratch - quoting over £130k for their design and project management fees, meaning we'd effectively get much less built for the same budget, whilst they got loads more profit.

I spoke to a builder working on a local job in May, who said he could do it for our budget and start in 4 months. But when I tried to get him to commit he claimed to be fully booked to the end of 2025, and that I had misunderstood (not the case, my literal first question on every call is "when could you start a new job?" then "do you have capacity for a really substantial project to start at that time point?" - I didn't want to waste my own time or theirs if they couldn't start in 2024). I called three others who didn't have capacity until next year.

Then when I was at the point of giving up, last month I called everyone I could find on the council website, trusted trader, check a trade etc who had good references, an address within 40 minutes drive, and evidence they had done large works (not just hard landscaping or small repairs). I probably made ten calls, but I got three companies who came out and did a quote who could start work this side of xmas. All have at least 10 five star reviews, have traded for 5 or more years on companies house without a trail of prior firms, and have photos of larger work that are clearly their own (I'm sceptical about images that look like stock photos). All told me they'd been swamped with work during the pandemic and the two years after, but the work was drying up now and less people are starting large new projects.

They all took three to four weeks to give me a quote, as the job is substantial (and complicated by Nick having already stock-piled materials on site). Two came in around the price Nick had quoted, one much higher like the design-and-build company. They all seemed genuinely keen to get the work. I think whilst the largest firms are still quite booked up and are cherry picking the most profitable jobs, and the sole traders are getting lots of repairs from the bad weather, the mid-size firms are a little more worried about the work slowing down. I got the impression they want larger jobs that will let them continue to pay their staff and earn a living whilst the mortgage rates come down a little and the cost of living crisis becomes less pressing. So a job like this, which will give them steady work for 9-12 months was desirable enough to try to be competitive. A couple even put notes that said "we'd love to get this job, so if this is too much for your budget please talk to us as there may be ways we can help you amend the design slightly to bring costs down somewhat".

But it may also be regional. There is more wealth in large cities and posher areas, so they may be less affected by cost of living and interest rate hikes. In the East Midlands, where I live, house prices are half those in the south east and a third of those in London. That means our budget for this part of the build is more than the average house price!