How can builders have so much work with the crazy quotes?

Adam

Adam

Adam

Soldato
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I've been getting some quotes for a single story extension. I'm knocking a conservatory down and having a < 20 square metre pitched roof extension built in it's place. Builders are loving it as it's an easy job and access for diggers etc is very straight forward. I've been told it will take 6-8 weeks.

My architect suggested it will cost £30-35k so I was expecting quotes around £40k. The quotes so far have come out in excess of £70k with a waiting list of at least 6 months.

There is no way that this extension represents good value for money so i'll pass and look to move when my fixed rate mortgage ends in 5 years.

I just can't understand how these builders all have a big pipeline of work when the quotes are so high.
 
Wow, wouldn't even consider that cost for that amount of space (builders quotes), it makes no sense unless you're really desperate. A couple of people I know have had £100k+ double storey extensions done which aren't huge. Things are turning to madness in this country, how long before everything goes south....
 
There's still a lot of revenge spending going on post COVID along with increased demand as people work from home more and want extra space. Add in increased material costs, supply problems, unknown increases coming and a labour shortage in the industry and you just have a perfect storm for silly prices - even if they'll quote at all.

If you don't really really need it now, waiting until things have calmed down would indeed be your best bet. Or start taking night classes on how to be a brickie, plasterer, sparky ...
 
Are there any ways to reduce costs, by perhaps hiring brickies directly etc? I'm very curious as we were planning something similar later this year. Shame we don't have any access to friends of the family in the trade
 
n30_mkii said:
Are there any ways to reduce costs, by perhaps hiring brickies directly etc? I'm very curious as we were planning something similar later this year. Shame we don't have any access to friends of the family in the trade
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Only if you take on all the ball ache and risk.
 
Material cost + demand - the prices for stuff like that is crazy - we were doing major refurbishment through 2019 and into the first bit of COVID and it would cost twice as much to have the same stuff done now!
 
LuckyBenski said:
It's the other way around, they're under so much demand they can keep raising prices because they're too busy to take on most jobs anyway.
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I think you are spot on but I just don't understand it. Who in their right mind is paying £3500 per sq metre for an extension?!
 
Adam said:
I think you are spot on but I just don't understand it. Who in their right mind is paying £3500 per sq metre for an extension?!
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People who can, I suppose. Covid has done two interesting (weird) things to society here that I've observed:

1. Capitalism and consumption carried on even when the world seemed to grind to a halt, because people still had money. In fact, less holidays and nights out meant even more disposable income for those who were already doing ok and whose well paid jobs didn't disappear. All premium products. Like graphics cards, phones etc seem to be in more demand than usual.

2. People started focusing on home life and either moved somewhere for a bigger house or better quality of life, or spent money on upgrading their home lives e.g. extensions but also pets, entertainment, better desks/chairs etc.

So I'm sure someone somewhere doesn't mind paying ridiculous money for their extension because, well, they've got the cash and they want it.
 
70k lol! You could do the training and build it yourself for less than half that.

But as above, if builders are over booked the prices will go through the roof so to speak..
 
We have the exact same problem - a traditional 5m x 3.5m glass conservatory that is pretty much unusable in summer and winter. We had quotes to have an extension which like you were just obscene but even having replacement frames/glass (the old one is a bit knackared and a lot of the glass panes have failed), they wanted well in excess of £15-18K to replace the existing frames and then put a solid roof on top rather than glass. They don't have any of the brick work to do though...

It's almost impossible to justify any kind of change currently! We're in the "wait and see what happens camp" but I just don't see materials going down in price now. Labour costs I think will eventually as interest rates hit people's pockets but there still seems to be a lot of excess cash about for some currently.

If you were happy to spend £40K though, maybe consider new energy efficient glass and a solid roof conversion.
 
n30_mkii said:
Wow, wouldn't even consider that cost for that amount of space (builders quotes), it makes no sense unless you're really desperate. A couple of people I know have had £100k+ double storey extensions done which aren't huge. Things are turning to madness in this country, how long before everything goes south....
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My mate did a loft conversion last year and only paid like 40k
 
I don't know where all this money is coming from. Are some groups of people much better off now working from home is a thing. Did people save a lot during Covid?

Or is there a FOMO attitude at the moment, and people are getting themselves into a lot of debt.

Personally, I'm more inclined to hunker down, avoid any big changes and debt until the world (and hopefully prices) have settled down again.
 
Depends where you live i guess. Out in rural areas well away from large towns and Cities it is way way cheaper.

Also helps to know the local people working for builders but have their own thing going on in the nights and weekends. Cut out the fatcat builder making money on their backs.
 
Bug One said:
I don't know where all this money is coming from. Are some groups of people much better off now working from home is a thing. Did people save a lot during Covid?

Or is there a FOMO attitude at the moment, and people are getting themselves into a lot of debt.

Personally, I'm more inclined to hunker down, avoid any big changes and debt until the world (and hopefully prices) have settled down again.
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Basic list from me/my colleagues:
* Cars -£300 - £700/mo better off - paused mileage/consolidated family vehicles --- those with PCPs either handed them in, or cleared the balloon on very low interest finance as no compelling reason to change
* Commute - £3-7k/year season tickets paused
* In-office spend - £2-4k a year (£15/day for breakfast, lunch etc)
* Clothes - £1k/year on shirts/suits/shoes

That's £16k/year just taking the median of the numbers above, for one person - a working couple you can bits of that by 2x. And bolt on at least £20-30k for some folk who have missed 2 years of family holidays.

Couple all that "extra cash" with a huge bear market the last 2 years and some folk will be sitting on goldmines.

Oh, and the more simple answer - house prices have risen such an insane amount, and interest rates are so low - that taking £70-100k out of your equity has been a cinch. I bet this is 90% of the big money you see knocking about.
 
Not sure where you are in he country, but where I am builders won't get out of bed for anything less than a grand per day.

We're having a nightmare with a builder at the minute. We've agreed to his expensive quote, and now can't get him for love nor money. They are so busy at the minute and charging though the roof!

Couple of years ago we got quotes for a garage extension, just to make it wider from a single to a double. Quotes these days are double, if not triple.
 
Bug One said:
I don't know where all this money is coming from. Are some groups of people much better off now working from home is a thing. Did people save a lot during Covid?

Or is there a FOMO attitude at the moment, and people are getting themselves into a lot of debt.

Personally, I'm more inclined to hunker down, avoid any big changes and debt until the world (and hopefully prices) have settled down again.
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not here personally. Saved a bit on fuel but that is offset by much higher energy use over the week. Before house was dead from 8-6 now it's on full power be it heating, laptops, screens etc. So the small amount I save by not driving to office is spent elseware. I think I may be under £100 better off each month.

my other half is a bit more as her season ticket was near £5k a year but again so of that is spent on using more at home. Nothing really major to change our lifes.
 
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