Prices of building materials moving forwards

[James Frome]

Hello

We are doing a house renovation which will involve predominantly new materials for everything in the house. 

What is the best place / information site to get a sense of how prices are changing for materials in the UK? Do people think that if the housing market cools, the price of materials will go down? We are worried about the cost of materials. 

Best,

James 🙏

[Conor]

It's all over the place. In my sector (major infrastructure projects like water treatment plants and reservoirs), we're allowing for 20% inflation on materials for 2023. You could see some things come down, but i think anything that is energy intensive in production or transport (steel, aluminium, insulation, cement) will continue to go up. Quarry products and timber should be more stable.

 

Shop around, setup cash trade accounts with at least three local merchants and ask each for quotes anytime you need anything. I found prices were all over the palace end quite often ended up splitting orders across different merchants as one would be way cheaper for timber but more expensive for concrete products and insulation.

Edited September 24, 2022 by Conor

[nod]

Shop around 

So many sellers are taking advantage of the situation 

Ive been in the building trade for 40 plus years and have never known such a massive difference in prices for  the same products 

I had quotes varying  by 60% for steel beams 
Shop around 

Edited September 24, 2022 by nod

[JohnMo]

I would say shop around, as soon as COVID started people started taking the p***, and it's just gets worse.

[joe90]

I agree with the above, shop around, you may find something cheaper when it is in stock rather than them ordering it in.

[James Frome]

Thanks everyone for your responses 🙏

[Mr Punter]

In May I was paying £6.50 a meter for 9 x 2 joists.  Now £4.60.  (Plus VAT) I am still probably being ripped off but it is less painful.

[Kelvin]

Two kitchen companies I was speaking with have been chasing me recently with offers of bigger discounts if I order now. They weren’t doing that a few months ago. I’m not ready to order yet but given things are going to get tighter next year I can see more of this. Personally I can see me gain on some stuff (nice to have discretionary stuff) and lose on others (anything that’s energy intensive) 

[Ferdinand]

Add glass to the list of energy intensive materials.

 

My 2G man has told me to hold off replacing units unless it is urgent.

 

As a perhaps typical data point, Wickes 2.4m 3x2 CLS is about 15% below 5-6 months ago, which was when I think I bought some and what I paid.

[Canski]

yep shop around. Timber prices are falling in my area, Subbies are constantly chasing work from me, my scaffolder who carries out work on large housing sites says that they are slowing right down. One of the 2 PV companies that i am talking to have increased their price by nearly 30% since the last quote in June. Kitchen companies that have quoted are contacting me to see if I am ready..

 

As a brickwork contractor work continues to come in and I'm overloaded but it can change quickly. I usually find out in  March if its going to be a busy year but this year it was more like June. Who knows for 2023 ? I'd love to have a crystal ball. It would help me to decide whether to build 1 house 2 houses or no houses following my demolition in January. At the moment we wait patiently and see whilst still planning the build route.

[Gus Potter]

Very hard to predict at the moment, I've heard Network Rail are trying to lock in prices on some of the more specialist work by not going to competetive tender, on the other hand on the domestic side I'm inclined to think things might cool off significantly.

 

In any event having been in the construction industry for nearly forty years, about half that time being a contractor it seems that every seven years or so we get a big down turn.. you set yourself up, maybe buy some plant, even a bigger yard!.. employ more folk and just as it seems you have cracked it and made a little money it all goes downhill fast!

 

That is me using the seaweed test, and if you believe in that we are due for a downturn anyway.

 

Good news ahead for the self builder.. but problem is you can't rely on the plot / house value increasing to make the finances look good. If you do it right though and spend the time on good design and cost control you should still weather most storms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Thank you Gus, you don't know how much I needed to hear that.

[LA3222]

I had someone ring me up the other day trying to flog more compriband, asking if had any projects coming up where I need some - suggests things are slowing down.

[Marvin]

Contacted builders merchants beginning of the week.

 

Me: Any room for a delivery next week?

 

Answer: Yeah, you can have the delivery any day next week did you want am or pm?

[saveasteading]

You can get a good idea of the typical prices online,   but local supply should be better.

Go in to 2 or 3 of the local merchants and talk to the lead salesperson. They will remember you and take your first enquiry for a quote very seriously. Be perfectly straight that you will be comparing suppliers.

A good merchant will be aware that they might not get all the job, as there are some areas where they can't compete. But a good relationship with one is ideal, for cost and service.

For example,  our drainage supplier advised that prices were about to double overnight, which they did,  and so saved us a lot.

Wickes is great for cost guidance. If they can sell 1 piece of wood/ ply etc at their published price, then you know your target is below that. And all their prices are published, to their great credit. 

And keep discussing here  as someone else will have recent knowledge of best prices.

 

BUT always remember that efficient design and avoidance of waste is worth more than any last few % you manage to extract. 

 

[SteamyTea]

When it comes to shopping around/finding online, I often wonder how much is genuine price increases, dumping overstock, contractural obligations, mismanagement/misunderstanding and finally, piss taking.

I usually use that list in reverse order.

[Ferdinand]

12 hours ago, saveasteading said:

You can get a good idea of the typical prices online,   but local supply should be better.

Go in to 2 or 3 of the local merchants and talk to the lead salesperson. They will remember you and take your first enquiry for a quote very seriously. Be perfectly straight that you will be comparing suppliers.

A good merchant will be aware that they might not get all the job, as there are some areas where they can't compete. But a good relationship with one is ideal, for cost and service.

For example,  our drainage supplier advised that prices were about to double overnight, which they did,  and so saved us a lot.

Wickes is great for cost guidance. If they can sell 1 piece of wood/ ply etc at their published price, then you know your target is below that. And all their prices are published, to their great credit. 

And keep discussing here  as someone else will have recent knowledge of best prices.

 

BUT always remember that efficient design and avoidance of waste is worth more than any last few % you manage to extract. 

 

Always remember that at Wickes -10% is always possible as they hand out trade accounts like confetti.

 

And that they participate in discount card schemes for a further -10%, which takes it to roughly their staff discount level (last time I checked, which is not very recent).

 

Plus good discounts for eg NHS staff or Blue Light card.

 

Presumably all that is within margin.

 

F

[saveasteading]

1 hour ago, Ferdinand said:

discount card schemes for a further -10%

I wasn't aware of that. What / how?

 

I now recall once asking a big merchant for a price for 2 whole pallets of osb. They quoted higher than wickes per board, so was an easy 'try again' discussion. Didn't buy from them on principle anyway after that.

 

Another wickes advantage is choosing the  best timbers.....disadvantage is if someone else did that already.

[Ferdinand]

1 hour ago, saveasteading said:

I wasn't aware of that. What / how?

 

I now recall once asking a big merchant for a price for 2 whole pallets of osb. They quoted higher than wickes per board, so was an easy 'try again' discussion. Didn't buy from them on principle anyway after that.

 

Another wickes advantage is choosing the  best timbers.....disadvantage is if someone else did that already.

 

It's all discussed in the pinned discount thread. Have a dig here.

 

For Wickes it should stack with the Trade Discount.

 

Quite often via employer card discount schemes - I get one with my health cash plan scheme. 

 

The mechanism is that you have a reusable cash card, load it up on the website at a discount to cash value you are loading, then use it to pay at Wickes or where-ever. They come as a perk with all sorts of employee schemes, memberships and similar. And many just don't know the value.

 

[LaCurandera]

Just sent my plans off to Estimators Online and got back the number. Will spot check their unit pricing to be current, and a fair few things they haven't included (e.g. Solar) which I wouldn't necessarily expect them to. 

But if they're right (or near right) we're possibly unable to do it by a factor of 30% of the build costs. 

So here's hoping there is weakening in the market and some materials prices go down. 

[Blooda]

On 15/10/2022 at 14:57, saveasteading said:

Another wickes advantage is choosing the  best timbers.....disadvantage is if someone else did that already.

If you have any temporary works..........Another Wickes advantage is choosing the worst bent and damaged timber taking it to the till and asking for a discount.. and then presenting discount cards.  

[Bozza]

I am definitely seeing timber prices reducing from their peak.  Cement is up.

 

A landscaping contractor I know was telling me that requests for quotes are reducing from their post lockdown peak.

 

Agree 100% that shopping around can save a small fortune.    Also think about auctions, other non obvious suppliers.  Eg direct to wood mills, quarries, existing sites, Facebook market place etc etc.  

 

And lastly don’t forget cashback credit cards, Quidco, Topcashback etc.  It all adds up if you have time not just to rely on easy option of local builders merchants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gavztheouch]

I've been roughly tracking prices for 2 or 3 years now. Was going to build last year but decided to wait or buy a house. Looks like both options will be cheaper in the next 6 months.

 

6x2 c24 timber as an example was almost £4 per meter at the peak, now seeing prices of £2.40. I have an invoice from 2016 @ £2.00 per meter

 

18mm OSB was £45 with vat at peak now can be had for £23 

 

Insulation is still as high as it has ever been. Interesting to see what will happen to wood cladding as it is also still high but could fall like the framing lumber. Metal is down a lot but I don't have any hard prices to compare.

 

My gut feeling is prices will fall or stabilise unless Covid or more Wars put another problem in the system. Rising interest rates should dampen demand but again this is contingent on governments not choosing to stimulate the economy again.

[saveasteading]

On 18/10/2022 at 13:55, LaCurandera said:

sent my plans off to Estimators Online

I was an Estimator for many years. It took weeks in any new position to know how the company costed thigs like waste, plant. management and profits, and most of all risk.

if estimating a project where the builder or builders were unknown, then I would say this could only be very approximate. easily +/-20%.

More accurate than not having it done professionally of course.

[LaCurandera]

16 hours ago, saveasteading said:

I was an Estimator for many years. It took weeks in any new position to know how the company costed thigs like waste, plant. management and profits, and most of all risk.

if estimating a project where the builder or builders were unknown, then I would say this could only be very approximate. easily +/-20%.

More accurate than not having it done professionally of course.

Yeah, if nothing else it gives me the (rough) quantity of each item, I can play with the pricing as it happens. TBH, the online version allows you to just change numbers on the fly, so is pretty flexible.