The lack of mortgages on the market coupled with tighter credit conditions has left many homeowners unable to move homes, and this has seen a rise in the number of homeowners deciding to make the most of their existing property instead by having improvements carried out, such as extensions and various other improvements. However, industry officials have warned that the cost of having such work carried out is rising rapidly, and that some jobs now cost around 25% more than they would have in 2006.
On average the cost of having home improvement and building work carried out has gone up by 20% over the past two years. A report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors suggests that the reason behind the price hikes included rising operation costs for builders and also the fact that many East European building workers had decided to go back home.
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An official from RICS said: ‘No longer can homeowners pick and choose from the glut of quality EU tradesmen as the number of central and eastern European nationals returning to their native countries is on the rise. With half of the estimated one million British-based Poles having already left the UK, competition for labour is pushing up costs.’
The RICS report also states: ‘The upward trend in oil prices is continuing to fuel the rising cost of transport, with forecasters predicting oil to rise to $200 per barrel in the next few years. Global demand for raw materials remains at an all-time high. With emerging giants such as China and India showing no signs of a slowdown, commodity prices will remain high for years to come. ‘This is no more evident than in the various trades where the cost of materials have pushed up the overall costs.
