Cost of home improvements rising for homeowners
August 25, 2008
Homeowners have received more bad news recently, after a report showed that the cost of home improvements has rocketed over the past couple of weeks. This comes at a particularly bad time, as many homeowners who are unable to sell their homes due to tighter mortgage lending conditions and falling house prices have decided that they may as well stay put and improve their homes to suit their needs rather than selling up at a low price and moving on.
With property sale figures in rapid decline many homeowners have found that they cannot sell their homes, and for those desperate for more space there is a real need to improve and adapt their existing home. However, with the cost of home improvements rising this could prove to be a very costly job for the average homeowner, and this is assuming that the homeowner can get a loan to carry out the improvements in the current difficult financial climate where credit conditions have become extremely tight.
Officials have said that some home improvement jobs now cost around 25% more than they did in 2006, and since that time home improvements have gone up by an average of 20%. Officials have said that there are a number of reasons for these prices hikes, and this includes the cost of material having gone up for tradesmen and building firms as well as many cheaper Eastern European labourers having returned home, which means builders have to pay more in terms of wages for their workers.
An official from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors recently stated: ‘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.’
RICS went on to state: ‘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.’
Recent reports have indicated that more people are now looking to improve their existing property rather than sell up due to the various difficulties in the current climate, but one official said that consumers should think carefully about the type of home improvements that will add value to the home. He said: ‘More people are looking to improve their home rather than move. But before embarking on any improvements, it pays to know which ones will add the most value to your property.’
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