Extension Budget Planning - am I being unrealistic

Syla5

Syla5

Syla5

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So just got initial budget estimations back from the first contacted company regarding getting an extension done and I was quite shocked by the price. I don't think I was being unrealistic with my price expectations but the quote, plus vat and a 10% contingency came out at 62% higher then my top end!

This quote is just for the building work and doesn't include architect plans.

So here are the basics for what we asked for.

The extension its self would a 15m x 4.5m single story pitched roof building. There is an option to add a porch between existing house and this new building which would be 3.5m x3m. The main building has a bathroom so drainage and central heating connection required.

Without me disclosing the quote I got for now, what are your thoughts on how much I should be budgeting for something like this.
 
Depends on your location as to whether it's realistic or not. I would easily expect £1500 per SqM in London, and would want to pay more for good quality or something I was going to live in, in my experience.
 
That is a really quite big building, bigger than a lot of peoples' entire houses.

Having done a lot of building work over the years, i would guess your quotes for a fully managed and internally finished build would be around £70-80k. The estimate of £1k/metre is a fairly good one for Oxfordshire at least.
 
@Skillmister I like to think I am pretty pragmatic with my planning in terms of projects and costs, and reasonable with my expectations, believe me, I was being very fair with my budget.

Some more details may help. We live in Bedfordshire. Yes it was fully managed plan but didn't include the cost of planning applications and architect drawings that was additional (£3k ish mark). The site is very open with no access issues at all, so cant see this being a factor either.

I will wait for a few more opinions before posting up the initial budget estimates.
 
Syla5 said:
@Skillmister I like to think I am pretty pragmatic with my planning in terms of projects and costs, and reasonable with my expectations, believe me, I was being very fair with my budget.

Some more details may help. We live in Bedfordshire. Yes it was fully managed plan but didn't include the cost of planning applications and architect drawings that was additional (£3k ish mark). The site is very open with no access issues at all, so cant see this being a factor either.

I will wait for a few more opinions before posting up the initial budget estimates.
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Did your number come to near what the other replies have suggested?
 
So your asking if your being unrealistic without putting how much you expected to pay and how much the builder quoted, it's a bit like asking how long is a piece of string but as you've had some people suggest at around £1k per m2 what £ per m2 were you expecting?
 
Kemik said:
Did your number come to near what the other replies have suggested?
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My number as in the budget I had planned or the estimate I was given?

Maundie said:
So your asking if your being unrealistic without putting how much you expected to pay and how much the builder quoted, it's a bit like asking how long is a piece of string but as you've had some people suggest at around £1k per m2 what £ per m2 were you expecting?
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I want to gauge a fair response of what people here would expect to pay, I can determine from that if I am woefully underestimating (I will confirm this later on don't worry) the costs of such a project or if this estimate is exceptionally unrealistic. Neither my expectations or the first estimate are required for that. Effectively I am asking "how much would you charge for 1 metre of tri-cord rope" not quite the same as "how long is a piece of string"
 
Depending on area you are looking at approx £1000 sqm for an unfinished shell, £1200 - £1500 sqm for basic finish and over £2000 sqm for quality finish.

They also look at what your house is worth and how much its likely to add and quote on a large percentage of that additional value :(

I looked into one recently, £45k unfinished internally but externally complete, ie doors windows and weather tight, material costs were less than £10k :D
 
finished to a basic standard only is all that's required. None of this high quality finish needed.

There is no justification for basing a price on how much value it adds, that's outrageous!
 
Syla5 said:
finished to a basic standard only is all that's required. None of this high quality finish needed.

There is no justification for basing a price on how much value it adds, that's outrageous!
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It's a way to make money. Such is the capitalist way!
 
As above - £750/£1k per square meter is a ball park figure for single story. Obviously that changes a bit depending on location etc.

That's a big "extension" your considering at 70m sq.

Almost certainly the cost of the extension will not be an automatic addition to the overall value of the property.

You can't base your costs on what you "think" it might add to your property otherwise everyone would be extending!!
 
What did you estimate? :) As above it would be usual to expect £70-80k as an estimate for that size of building, with basic finish.
 
Ok so a few responses have been received.

I set out a budget of £90k at the top end for completed building to a spec that would only require finishing decorating. So arguable £82k plus 10% contingency.

The quote received for just the main building alone was £120k bare shell, add in electrics, plumbing, windows (how these are not part of the main building I have no clue) and plastering that then jumps up another £15k. Then add on the connecting porch and that brings it up another £16k. Finally add on a 10% contingency because that's sensible comes to a grand total of £166k

I think someone was on something seriously strong to give them the massive balls to come back with that as a quote.
 
Yep that quote is absolutely huge, way way out of line. Wow

I would say to ask them to break that down but there really isn't any point, the only justification would be a £1000/person day rate on the labour :p
 
Speaking to a lot of builders recently I'd say they didn't want the job. Builders don't like to say "No" so they give an unrealistically high quote and hope you don't take them up on it.
 
Ahh, the classic 1k per m2 quote... I've not seen a job come in under that for 10 years at least, except for a garage with room in the roof!
The only way to get a decent price is to have all your drawings done to a detailed level and have that priced by at least 3 builders, otherwise you don't know what assumptions they are making pricing it, or where the price can escalate rapidly with an unknown...
1k a m2 was used a long time ago for new builds on flat plots, extensions generally have a lot more complexity in the basics (working around existing services, knocking openings in existing buildings, foundations etc etc)
Construction costs have increased and regulations have tightened, but you won't know how the builder is pricing it or where costs could be saved if you don't have details.
Even with that you can have a huge discrepancy, I had a tender return for a small side extension about a month ago where three of the four contractors prices were within a few hundred pounds of each other, but last week we had a much bigger extension return which had a price difference of 200k between lowest and highest!! Absolutely mental but the highest one either didn't want the job or was taking for rebuilding the rest of the house too!

(However, the quote you have does seem high, it's just impossible to tell why)
 
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