Renovate next year or wait until 2024 due to price increases

Sadie.ie

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advise please. We have been saving & planning having a badly needed renovation & extension onto our house. We had been hoping to do this next year but with the rising costs in the construction industry we are wondering are we better off waiting. My friend today who works in construction advised us to wait for 2 years as he things with the coming recessions prices will drop. It may be painful to wait that long but it will save us paying over the odds. It will kill me to be honest as the house is embarrassing to bring people into at this stage.

What do you think go ahead next year or wait it out?

Sadie

votecounts

you could easily wait 2 years and prices could be more expensive

waterwelly

Never do prices go down. Maybe slightly but very little.

More likely to stabilise and stay the same for a few years.

Dodge

If you can afford it, get it done asap

Shauna677

I remember prices dropping substantially in last recession. Wait until next jan/Feb then builders will be begging for your custom like back in 2010.

Sadie.ie

It’s very confusing knowing what to do & very stressful. I think I’ll start getting quotes but we do have a bit more saving to do.

Bongojohn

In the same situation, our planning is up next year so are going to go ahead regardless. Really hard to know what to do but as the kids are getting older it needs to be done now. As others have said prices will probably level off but can’t see a substantial drop

Dinging

In a very similar position as yourself. We have been on this journey for 2 years now with prices increasing on a daily basis. While we have planning permission and have engaged with a builder who has checked out with some great references and we are happy with the quote he has given us there is always a doubt that costs are going to drop once we start. Our builder and engineer don't see costs dropping as there is such a pent-up demand and households are sitting on a massive amount of savings. See https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0925/1325202-savings-budget-inflation/ which is potentially a lot of renovations. We are due to sign the contract this week. Life is short and it's near impossible to second guess the market.

Sadie.ie

Thank you kindly to everyone for your input. I think the best thing to do is have some builders come out & take a look & start getting those quotes in. We will have to apply for a loan but we are obvioulsy trying to save as much as we can on top of that. The best of luck to everyone also :)

mickdw

Construction has already practically come to a standstill in many parts of the country.

Dublin and other cities still have huge demand and the wages to drive it. Still, as a whole demand is down and will result in more tradesmen hitting the cities for work so prices will soften.

If the banks pull the plug like in 08, prices for everything will tumble as there will be no mortgages and residential work.

I'd hold off personally until middle of 23.

Sadie.ie

Thank you , I think we’ll do that.

angeleyes

I'd keep saving Sadie and maybe look at 2023. Plus get a few quotes as well from builders.

If you are getting any retrofitting work done to the house, I'd also get quotes for that and see if you would qualify for any grants from S.E.A.I.

Best of luck with your extension.

browneire

I wouldn't spend too much time getting quotes until you are ready to spend. Very hard for anyone to maintain their prices over a few weeks and there's a nice bit of work in getting someone to price for you. Save yourself the stress, try to make a budget - aim to save for that budget and when your ready assess and likely go for it.

PowerToWait

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119666645#Comment_119666645

Labour costs decrease, but I don’t see material costs dropping too much.

Dodge

There’s a 10% levy on concrete products from next year (from the budget). I’ll say again, if you can afford it now, build it now. Prices may not drop at all, and you’re losing out on time in your “new” home

mickdw

I wouldn't be so sure of that one.

I think they will do a U turn on that one.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119678329#Comment_119678329

Materials are just nuts at the minute. They will go down as current pricing is pretty much war time pricing with surcharges added for fuel and add into that crazy demand due to limited production. Typically materials don't go down a whole lot but at the rate they went up, there is no justification for the current prices.

Labour will drop when lads are sitting at home.

j14

We were planning on getting work done in early 2020 (new roof and 2nd floor on a 1980s bungalow) and then Covid stopped everything. Price quoted at the time was €89k we got it requoted and its now €156k.

Our planning expires in 2025 so we are now waiting it out.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119701689#Comment_119701689

Thats about typical of current pricing. Has to drop.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119702074#Comment_119702074

It probably will drop but it will not drop back to 2019 pricing.if it drops 15-20% it will be as much as I can see

mickdw

Ya but that's a huge drop

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119705068#Comment_119705068

But it will take a significent fall in costs of building materials, That is the conundrum

mitresize5

Get a QS to price the work as if it was going to tender - we did and the estimates were too much for us. We changed a few things in the plans and it knocked 40K off it while still having drawings we were very happy with

Send it out to tender, we were very lucky that a builder quite local was just finishing another job in the area and had local men ready to go on site. He was 30K cheaper than the other two tenders we got. From chatting to the foreman on site he said it suited them down to the ground as they had 4 other sites on the go - all an hours drive away from his yard so his men were losing two hours every day.

Finally, and the key to getting it over the line. The contractor would work with a SEAI One Stop Shop for the energy upgrades. This meant we availed of the full suite of SEAI grants. Thats 30K off the price of the build. That was tricky because only one one stop shop in the country will work with contractors doing extensions as well as energy retrofits and not every contractor will work with a One Stop Shop

I'd investigate all options before postponing as as you dont know what the future holds. If you are waiting for a 2008 style price adjustment then remember banks pretty much stopped lending for 5 years if you need to borrow.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119709596#Comment_119709596

Good post.

The idea that mortgages will stop for all but cast iron cases is certainly something to consider.

Madd002

OH travels up and down to Dublin couple of days a week as a sub contractor and our son as labourer. The QS told him today that the suppliers they use and had to wait weeks for supplies are now ringing him to see if he needs anything, its starting to slow down. So yes I'd wait it out, most people done the works over the last 2 years as extra cash was available. Now its minding what you have. There'll be lots of trades looking for a bit on the side which is no harm but make sure you you see there work first hand as it will cost you in the long run if you don't.

houseyhouse

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119709596#Comment_119709596

Would love to know which One Stop Shop works with contractors doing extensions. Thanks

mitresize5

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119711915#Comment_119711915

Electric Ireland Superhomes

https://electricirelandsuperhomes.ie

Finding a contractor to work with them will be your next challenge. The contractor will have 2 contracts, one with EISS for the retrofit work and one wit yourself for the non SEAI work

purplefields

I would wait as long as possible - if you have access to money.

Up until August, there was no hope of getting builders and trades people to even return a call, never mind an actual quote or visit. Then In August I saw an advert in the local paper for someone looking for work! - I couldn't believe it and got some well overdue work done.

Since September, three builders have now visited to give quotes for other work we need doing. All are very eager to get stuck in. One mentioned that he had enough work for the rest of 2022 as people want to move in before Christmas. I guess he is lining work up for 2023. He told me he stopped taking on work earlier this year because of the chaos, but is looking again now.

barnabyjones77

How did you get on?