Obscene increases in building/construction materials prices
Discussion
I have watched, with absolute disbelief, the rise of materials prices over the last few months, and I am now wondering where it will all end.
Roof trusses and floor joists that were priced at £13k last June are now being priced at £30k.
General building timber has gone up 80% in 6 months.
Insulation and insulated plasterboard has gone up 60% in 6 months.
Oak products have gone up 70%.
Copper products have doubled.
Steel has more than doubled.
The country is quite literally running out of many of the materials required to build a house.
Was talking to a friend who works for a fairly well known housebuilder, and they were saying that if the current tend does not right itself very quickly, then we could potentially see £100k or more added to the cost of building a new house, just to cover the increased materials costs.
Difficult times for everyone in the industry, and also those who are planning a renovation or extension of their own home.
I have no doubt this will also have a knock on effect with regards to the property market as a whole.
Roof trusses and floor joists that were priced at £13k last June are now being priced at £30k.
General building timber has gone up 80% in 6 months.
Insulation and insulated plasterboard has gone up 60% in 6 months.
Oak products have gone up 70%.
Copper products have doubled.
Steel has more than doubled.
The country is quite literally running out of many of the materials required to build a house.
Was talking to a friend who works for a fairly well known housebuilder, and they were saying that if the current tend does not right itself very quickly, then we could potentially see £100k or more added to the cost of building a new house, just to cover the increased materials costs.
Difficult times for everyone in the industry, and also those who are planning a renovation or extension of their own home.
I have no doubt this will also have a knock on effect with regards to the property market as a whole.
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 11th May 09:20
Lord Marylebone said:
Was talking to a friend who works for a fairly well known housebuilder, and they were saying that if the current tend does not right itself very quickly, then we will see £100k or more having to be added to the price of every new house just to cover the increased materials costs.
They wish. New build houses can be made with mass-produced UK-supplied papier mache just as badly as with Polish stuff. OpulentBob said:
Lord Marylebone said:
Was talking to a friend who works for a fairly well known housebuilder, and they were saying that if the current tend does not right itself very quickly, then we will see £100k or more having to be added to the price of every new house just to cover the increased materials costs.
They wish. New build houses can be made with mass-produced UK-supplied papier mache just as badly as with Polish stuff. So unfortunately no. Somehow trying to build using UK manufactured products won't help.
Lord Marylebone said:
I have watched, with absolute disbelief, the rise of materials prices over the last few months, and I am now wondering where it will all end.
Roof trusses and floor joists that were priced at £13k last June are now being priced at £30k.
General building timber has gone up 80% in 6 months.
Insulation and insulated plasterboard has gone up 60% in 6 months.
Oak products have gone up 70%.
Copper products have doubled.
Steel has more than doubled.
The country is quite literally running out of many of the materials required to build a house.
Was talking to a friend who works for a fairly well known housebuilder, and they were saying that if the current tend does not right itself very quickly, then we will see £100k or more having to be added to the price of every new house just to cover the increased materials costs.
Doesn't work like that I'm afraid. There are far wider forces at work that control house prices.Roof trusses and floor joists that were priced at £13k last June are now being priced at £30k.
General building timber has gone up 80% in 6 months.
Insulation and insulated plasterboard has gone up 60% in 6 months.
Oak products have gone up 70%.
Copper products have doubled.
Steel has more than doubled.
The country is quite literally running out of many of the materials required to build a house.
Was talking to a friend who works for a fairly well known housebuilder, and they were saying that if the current tend does not right itself very quickly, then we will see £100k or more having to be added to the price of every new house just to cover the increased materials costs.
monthefish said:
Doesn't work like that I'm afraid. There are far wider forces at work that control house prices.
Yes, there are absolutely much bigger market forces at work which affect house prices.But:
You can't build houses at a loss.
We need houses to be built.
All we can hope for is that supply chains straighten themselves out as soon as possible, otherwise house builders are simply going to stop building, or start increasing prices of new build homes, neither of which will do anything to help our current housing crises.
I went to my local building supplies place a few weeks back to get timber to build a wood store. I nearly fainted when he priced it up. It was actually more expensive just for the wood than it would have neen to buy a really solid pre-built store online (which is what I did). Guy in the shop said most wood on sale in the UK was imported and that prices had gone through the roof in the last year.
Somebody's having a laugh somewhere.
Somebody's having a laugh somewhere.
Our cable has gone up a fair bit but not doubled yet, we could get 100m 2.5 T&E for £48 last year, even slightly cheaper for the crap stuff you couldn't strip. Now its well over £60, copper prices are quite dear at the minute though.
https://www.lme.com/metals/non-ferrous/copper/#tab...
The dearest I have ever seen copper is about $8,000 a ton but back then it was $2 per pound so it was about £4,000 a ton, now its over $10,000 and we are only getting about $1.40 to the pound so thats about £7,000 a ton. Looks like our prices are going up then.
https://www.lme.com/metals/non-ferrous/copper/#tab...
The dearest I have ever seen copper is about $8,000 a ton but back then it was $2 per pound so it was about £4,000 a ton, now its over $10,000 and we are only getting about $1.40 to the pound so thats about £7,000 a ton. Looks like our prices are going up then.
monthou said:
Lord Marylebone said:
You can't build houses at a loss.
We need houses to be built.
If the cost of building a new home increases and house prices don't move then the cost of building land will go down. In the short term some builders may make a loss.We need houses to be built.
If the cost of building a 3 or 4 bed detached house has just risen by, say £50k, it is not possible for this increase to be absorbed by the land, as they will have paid less than that for the plot.
Also, the landowners may not be willing to lower the land price, preferring to wait it out.
Zippee said:
Tell me about it. Currently getting plans drawn up for a 2 storey extension. Wandering if it's worth waiting a few months for this to die down, or, if like petrol, it seems to just remain at the new high price.
Petrol always going up is a bit of a myth, if you take inflation into consideration it should be almost £2.00/L if you look at the period of say 10 years.Sure everyone would like cheaper petrol but the government have been keeping the price "low" for a good while now.
From a Shedstore website page, some reasons why wood has become so dear in the UK.
Quote:
There are a number of factors contributing to the price increases:
- In the UK currently, we’re cutting down more trees than we’re planting. We’re replanting 50% less trees than we did 10 years ago, which is reducing the amount of timber on the market.
- More and more forests are being taken over by private companies; their owners are not willing to sell their wood, in order to drive up timber prices.
- Though approximately 50% of the timber used in the UK is produced here, we also import large quantities from European countries like Latvia. Due to the atrocious weather conditions this winter, the delivery of such quantities of timber has proven problematic.
- As we rely heavily on imported timber to meet demands, increasing transport costs and the decreasing value of the sterling has resulted in the UK becoming a less attractive market to exporters.
- This is compounded by emerging markets in Asia and recovering markets in Europe; both are willing to pay much more for timber.
- Timber is now being used in more ways than ever. For instance, it has become a more popular material for housing developers, as it allows them to build new properties much more quickly, and at lower prices.
- Transportation costs are once again increasing, affecting both imports and domestic deliveries. This is especially affecting timber transportation, due to its bulk and weight.
- The number of biomass power stations in the UK is increasing. They consume vast quantities of timber in order to produce electricity and heat.
End quote. Here's the link. https://www.shedstore.co.uk/buy-now-prices-must-go...
Time for straw bales and corrugated tin roofs?
Quote:
There are a number of factors contributing to the price increases:
- In the UK currently, we’re cutting down more trees than we’re planting. We’re replanting 50% less trees than we did 10 years ago, which is reducing the amount of timber on the market.
- More and more forests are being taken over by private companies; their owners are not willing to sell their wood, in order to drive up timber prices.
- Though approximately 50% of the timber used in the UK is produced here, we also import large quantities from European countries like Latvia. Due to the atrocious weather conditions this winter, the delivery of such quantities of timber has proven problematic.
- As we rely heavily on imported timber to meet demands, increasing transport costs and the decreasing value of the sterling has resulted in the UK becoming a less attractive market to exporters.
- This is compounded by emerging markets in Asia and recovering markets in Europe; both are willing to pay much more for timber.
- Timber is now being used in more ways than ever. For instance, it has become a more popular material for housing developers, as it allows them to build new properties much more quickly, and at lower prices.
- Transportation costs are once again increasing, affecting both imports and domestic deliveries. This is especially affecting timber transportation, due to its bulk and weight.
- The number of biomass power stations in the UK is increasing. They consume vast quantities of timber in order to produce electricity and heat.
End quote. Here's the link. https://www.shedstore.co.uk/buy-now-prices-must-go...
Time for straw bales and corrugated tin roofs?
Zippee said:
Tell me about it. Currently getting plans drawn up for a 2 storey extension. Wandering if it's worth waiting a few months for this to die down....
Have you got a builder lined up? We've just got planning permission and initial enquiries with local builders suggest thinking about March/April 2022 to start.On the lumber front, I've heard it's all there ready to be shipped but they just can't get it here, and when they can, shipping costs are enormous.
On commodities generally, it's reckoned we could be in for a "supercycle" - a 10yr period of surging prices.
Edited by Sheepshanks on Monday 10th May 16:19
Sheepshanks said:
Zippee said:
Tell me about it. Currently getting plans drawn up for a 2 storey extension. Wandering if it's worth waiting a few months for this to die down....
Have you got a builder lined up? We've just got planning permission and initial enquiries with local builders suggest thinking about March/April 2022 to start.Then we'll need the structural diagrams doing before an accurate quote can be given.
Sheepshanks said:
Zippee said:
Tell me about it. Currently getting plans drawn up for a 2 storey extension. Wandering if it's worth waiting a few months for this to die down....
Have you got a builder lined up? We've just got planning permission and initial enquiries with local builders suggest thinking about March/April 2022 to start.On the lumbar front, I've heard it's all there ready to be shipped but they just can't get it here, and when they can, shipping costs are enormous.
On commodities generally, it's reckoned we could be in for a "supercycle" - a 10yr period of surging prices.
"During this phase, caution is thrown to the wind, as asset prices skyrocket. Valuations reach extreme levels during this phase as new valuation measures and metrics are touted to justify the relentless rise, and the "greater fool" theory—the idea that no matter how prices go, there will always be a market of buyers willing to pay more—plays out everywhere"
'Fear of missing out fuels record house price rises in April.'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57055314
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57055314
monthou said:
Lord Marylebone said:
You can't build houses at a loss.
We need houses to be built. We need 'poor' housebuilders to be able to keep making obscene profits...Ask yourself why we need to keep concreting over the countryside.
If the cost of building a new home increases and house prices don't move then the cost of building land will go down. In the short term some builders may make a loss.Mammasaid said:
monthou said:
Lord Marylebone said:
You can't build houses at a loss.
We need houses to be built. We need 'poor' housebuilders to be able to keep making obscene profits...Ask yourself why we need to keep concreting over the countryside.
If the cost of building a new home increases and house prices don't move then the cost of building land will go down. In the short term some builders may make a loss.Someone has to build them, and they have to be built somewhere.
Not sure what other solutions there are to all of this. If we didn't have large housebuilding companies delivering 200,000+ homes per year, we would be screwed.
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