Building cost per sq m?

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Discussion

BERGS2

Original Poster:

2,801 posts

248 months

Sunday 19th February 2017
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Hi All -

We have been looking at a side extension and loft of approx 40 sq m

Have just had version of the plan where this is extended to 50 sq m

do the rough costs per sq/m remain similar? One of the guys we've had round to give beermat costing said work to roughly £1600 /sq/m - so one that basis, 40 sq m would be £64k & 50 would be £80k.

i know these rule of thumb number are sketchy at best - but was wondering if someone in the trade has a model that helps accuratly scale?

(the extension will be rendered block - below in blue is the 'new' area)



Cheers Y'all


BERGS2

Original Poster:

2,801 posts

248 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
Anyone?

We're in the south east- & will be aiming for a nice, but not super high spec...

Have crunched a multitude of excel sheets on the matter - but real world numbers alway good points of ref

Muncher

12,219 posts

249 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
I know the figure is in the right ballpark but in my experience some builders and QS's are starting to edge towards figures which would mean it's barely viable to build anything at all these days.




XJ75

436 posts

140 months

Monday 20th February 2017
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We're in Surrey and had 2 quotes which came in at around £3k per square metre (including VAT). I did feel that both the chaps we saw were quite young and in the profession to make a quick buck, promoting the turnkey building experience. Either that or they didn't want the work, although both chased me up after sending the quote.

This didn't include a new kitchen either (the extension was leaving the existing kitchen untouched), it did include provision for a new bathroom though, but we agreed that the estimate would include a figure for a mid-range bathroom suite.

We decided to move house in the end so didn't bother getting further quotes, but if I was going to get more quotes I would aim for the more "traditional" builders who IMO are less likely to come up with ridiculous figures.



Edited by XJ75 on Monday 20th February 16:10

magooagain

9,963 posts

170 months

Monday 20th February 2017
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I have hesitated to comment on this,but agree with muncher that you are in the ballpark.

I was thinking that it will be down to the spec that may push it up to a possible 2,000 pound per square meter.

South east you say. Mmm my old area.

Muncher

12,219 posts

249 months

Monday 20th February 2017
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It does make me feel a bit better that whilst it took me 2 years of evenings, weekends and holidays building mine, I came in at around £600 per square meter fully finished to a high spec, that was including having to pay for labour for the brickies, roofer and plasterer.

XJ75

436 posts

140 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
I'm convinced the builder was expecting to clear about £40k profit on my build. It was a roughly 10-week build and I'm not entirely convinced builders should be expecting to earn £4k a week profit. That's also assuming he wasn't running any other builds at the same time.

BERGS2

Original Poster:

2,801 posts

248 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
Muncher said:
I know the figure is in the right ballpark but in my experience some builders and QS's are starting to edge towards figures which would mean it's barely viable to build anything at all these days.
do you mean viable as in getting back the monies put in?

I can never tell if we're being mugged off - was surprised by the number of builder / build co's who genuinely didn't seem interested - or took the time to have a look and the didn't come back

It seems like an odd coming together of factors:

Housing market cooling - Transaction volumes down, so more people 'staying put'/ extending rather than moving
Broad materials inflation
Economic uncertainty

Some of the builders we've spoken with say that the volume of work is way down - other said they could schedule in our works just before Christmas..... Is this a polite way of being told to bog off?



magooagain

9,963 posts

170 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
Being that you are in the south east I imagine it would only be a matter of time that you should see a profit in the investment of building that extension.
Unless the area / street is not right for the size of house it becomes after the works and therefor doesn't yield profit.

It's a strange thing really as a house is a home and profit should be the last thing on the list as it's an investment in ones family and life really.

Little Lofty

3,288 posts

151 months

Monday 20th February 2017
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I almost bought a house late last year that needed full renovation and a double extension to the side. It would have been around 50m2 in total, a very quick estimate came out at £60k just for the extension, that's cost price. That was based on materials at my trade prices and day rates for the subbies I use. Building material costs are rising at a ridiculous rate and have been for a few years, not helped by a national shortage or roofing materials and bricks. My local Jewson had a list of price increases on display and nearly everything is at least 10%, with one DPC supplier increase of 30%. This year they will blame it on Brexit but it's been going on for years now.

Muncher

12,219 posts

249 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
Yes, to the extent that the headline build cost + the plot value is actually higher than what the thing would sell for when completed.

My suspicion is that generally small builders, when building a large-ish house are looking to make both a wage (~£40k) plus a £100k profit.

joshcowin

6,800 posts

176 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
I work for a building company in the SE, dependant on several factors I would say allow £1750 for that build!

PM me if you want a quote, alternatively keep this thread updated and I will chip with anything helpful.

Buy your insulation now as it is going up a further 16% soon (March).

As to people saying building is getting expensive I believe it is just rising the same amount as everything else, the days of £1000 per m2 are long gone unless like above you have years to complete a simple project. Materials have risen recently and some materials are proving hard to purchase.

p.s the cost of employing decent tradesmen is high, if you are looking for a quality job that will be completed in a timely manner by a company who offer a good service I would say that your project will cost nearer 100k


Edited by joshcowin on Monday 20th February 16:54

ukwill

8,903 posts

207 months

Monday 20th February 2017
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We've just been quoted between £1500-1600 psqm for an extension, in Surrey - which is refreshing. A while back someone quoted £3k psqm. Oh how we laughed.

Muncher

12,219 posts

249 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
Little Lofty said:
I almost bought a house late last year that needed full renovation and a double extension to the side. It would have been around 50m2 in total, a very quick estimate came out at £60k just for the extension, that's cost price. That was based on materials at my trade prices and day rates for the subbies I use. Building material costs are rising at a ridiculous rate and have been for a few years, not helped by a national shortage or roofing materials and bricks. My local Jewson had a list of price increases on display and nearly everything is at least 10%, with one DPC supplier increase of 30%. This year they will blame it on Brexit but it's been going on for years now.
So roughly a £400 per square meter profit (vs £1,600), or £90k on a 220 square foot build. That's not a dig by the way, just interesting that it roughly tallies with what I was thinking.

BERGS2

Original Poster:

2,801 posts

248 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
joshcowin said:
if you are looking for a quality job that will be completed in a timely manner by a company who offer a good service I would say that your project will cost nearer 100k


Edited by joshcowin on Monday 20th February 16:54
Cheers josh - just out of interest - how much do factors such as site accessibility and build type impact on typical pricing?

Our place is/will be rendered block - which the 'tect says should be cheaper, similarly - we're on a flat wide plot with easy access from all sides. are these marginal considerations? Or, could they change things by a few quid per sq m?

our budget is £125k but thats 'all in'

what's happening to insulation costs then?





037

1,317 posts

147 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
Not sure why many think that rendered block is cheaper than finished brickwork. It isnt.
When pricing work a builder will go through every aspect of the job from ease of accessibility to ground condition etc then price all material costs then approximate the time it would take in labour then add profit. Then we would divide this by the added extension size to approximate the value per metre which everyone is so obsessed with.
Scaling comes into it as you wouldn't build a 4m2 extesion for just, say £1500 + vat nor would you expect to win a job where you have priced a 200M2 job at £1500 perM2


Fizzsimba

50 posts

134 months

Monday 20th February 2017
quotequote all
037 said:
Not sure why many think that rendered block is cheaper than finished brickwork. It isnt.
When pricing work a builder will go through every aspect of the job from ease of accessibility to ground condition etc then price all material costs then approximate the time it would take in labour then add profit. Then we would divide this by the added extension size to approximate the value per metre which everyone is so obsessed with.
Scaling comes into it as you wouldn't build a 4m2 extesion for just, say £1500 + vat nor would you expect to win a job where you have priced a 200M2 job at £1500 perM2
Couldn't agree more, Every job I price is worked out on an individual basis as no 2 jobs are the same.
Once I've worked out all the variables, Then I will work out its sq mt price if the client wants this.

TA14

12,722 posts

258 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
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joshcowin said:
I work for a building company in the SE, dependant on several factors I would say allow £1750 for that build!
Would that be plus VAT?

Hereward

4,169 posts

230 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
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My 40m2 single-storey oak-frame kitchen extension quote is £3,750+VAT per m2.

Excludes floor coverings and fixtures and fittings.

The oak frame and glazing is £50k + VAT.

The building works are £100k + VAT

I assume this is close to a world record quote.

TA14

12,722 posts

258 months

Tuesday 21st February 2017
quotequote all
Hereward said:
My 40m2 single-storey oak-frame kitchen extension quote is £3,750+VAT per m2.

Excludes floor coverings and fixtures and fittings.

The oak frame and glazing is £50k + VAT.

The building works are £100k + VAT

I assume this is close to a world record quote.
So, having put up the oak frame and glazing, what are the building works that would cost you £3,000/m2?