According to Averies, Beard is now facing delays of weeks for products that had previously been available either immediately or within a couple of days. Concrete blocks, which formerly had lead times of two to three days, are now taking three weeks to arrive, while lead times for MDF have increased from five to seven days to four to six weeks, with suppliers notifying the firm of a potential 15% price rise in July.
For sterling board, what had been a two-day lead time is now six to eight weeks, with suppliers warning of a potential 20% price rise in July. Roof battens, which had been available from stock, are now taking a month, while lead times for cold-rolled steel purlins have gone up from six to eight weeks to 20 weeks.
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
BBC News
By Sarah Dickins
The Welsh economy bounced back when lockdown restrictions were eased last summer, latest figures show.
The gross domestic product (GDP) for Wales saw a 14.4% rise for the months between July and September, compared with the previous three months of 2020.
The biggest winner was accommodation and food services, which leapt 302.5%.
But the overall increase in Wales was less than in England, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The GDP measure, which looks at the amount of goods and services delivered in Wales, was also still in negative figures compared with 2019, at a growth rate of -6%.
It is slightly better than the UK average, which stood at -7.5%, compared with the same period the year before.