Sat 8 May 2021 03.00 EDT
UK homeowners face higher bills for renovation work as builders grapple with soaring material costs and shortages of essentials ranging from concrete and timber to taps and roof tiles in a booming housing market.
“It is a bit like going to Sainsbury’s and them not having any bread, milk or eggs in,” said Paul Bence, the managing director of builders merchants Bence, of the runaway demand for supplies that is emptying shelves. “Cement is our bread and butter and we would normally keep a good 10 days stock. We would not operate a ‘just-in-time’ model … but that’s effectively where we are right now.”
By Tom Lowe2021-05-07T05:00:00+01:00
But report also finds surge in optimism for more work in the coming months
More than half of construction firms are expecting a greater number of contractual disputes after covid because of the impact of lockdown restrictions, according to Gleeds.
Some 54% of respondents to the consultants’ spring market report said that they thought disputes would increase, with just 10% expecting them to stay the same.
Changes to timelines for project completion was seen by 80% of respondents as the most likely cause of disputes, with 11% blaming changes in specification and 9% blaming payment terms.
Changes to project timelines were seen as the main potential cause of disputes after the pandemic
New research from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has shown the prices of some steel and timber products have risen over the past year.
The latest construction building materials analysis found that the cost of a number of materials had risen by almost 20 per cent since April 2020. The price of concrete reinforcing bars was up 19.8 per cent; fabricated structural steel rose by 17.6 per cent, and imported sawn or planed wood rose was up 16.6 per cent in the year to March 2021.
The Construction Materials Price Index showed that costs for raw materials for all new work rose by 7.8 per cent in the last 12 months, with materials costs for new housing up 8.1 per cent and repairs and maintenance up 9 per cent.
By Tom Lowe2021-05-04T05:00:00+01:00
Peter Caplehorn adds problems will start to delay completions
Worsening material shortages could hit major projects within the next few months unless supplies improve, the chief executive of the Construction Products Association has warned.
A global shortage of construction materials including timber, steel and plastics this year because of the effects of the pandemic has so far been mostly affecting SMEs.
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Peter Caplehorn said the shortages could have a significant impact on projects of all sizes unless the situation improved within the next few months
But Peter Caplehorn told Building that the problem had “escalated” and said the delays could soon affect the ability of larger firms to complete projects on time.