Average Build Cost Of A New Build

[OnionTerror]

I've always wondered what the average build cost of a new build 3-bed house is? Of course there are variables, such as greenfield vs brownfield land costs (clean up costs, etc.), building materials, labour costs, etc.. I've heard that its in the region of 70 grand.

How much profit (in percentage terms) does the average developer expect to make per house? In the future, will the build cost of a house be marginal against its selling cost?

[expatowner]

I've always wondered what the average build cost of a new build 3-bed house is? Of course there are variables, such as greenfield vs brownfield land costs (clean up costs, etc.), building materials, labour costs, etc.. I've heard that its in the region of 70 grand.

How much profit (in percentage terms) does the average developer expect to make per house? In the future, will the build cost of a house be marginal against its selling cost?

70 grand sounds about right.

Developers profit goes up and down depending on where they are in the cycle.

Right now they have adopted the crash position.

[50%deposit]

70 grand sounds about right.

Developers profit goes up and down depending on where they are in the cycle.

Right now they have adopted the crash position.

£70k is about right, but you have to remember that the big companies get economies of scale. I would say they pay £20-30k per crappy house.

Of course, an enterprising honest human being could buy some land and build their own house, but the Evil Government that holds reign over this buggered land has so many regulations in place that you would be be able to bend over for beaurucrats inspecting your anuus to ensure that there were enough beuarocrats up it.

I remember this American TV program about a private investigator that was always building his house, he lived in a caravan while he built it. Here in England you couldn't probably even shit on your own land without a retarded evil government lacky putting you in prison for Health & Safety, even though the government employs hoardes of Gypos to shit all over everyones elses land.

I have considered buying a caravan type 'mobile' home as I can afford that, then I could retire from this evil existance and say goodbye to politicians, landlords, employers and other scum forever, but im sure that wouldn't stop them from trying to anully abuse me forever and ever, amen. They would probably make sleeping past mid day a criminal offense, label me a peodophile and blow my 'mobile' house up with tanks claiming I had weapons of mass destruction and boxes full of contraband FREEDOM stashed under the floorboards.

If the government are supposed to act as parents to the population, to take care of us in our youth and old age, then I charge them with child molestation, as well as old person molestation, and sentence them to be hung, drawn and quatered.

[bpw]

here in the USA you can buy a 4000sq ft MacMansion on a quarter acre lot for 300k US - I would guess the cost of the house is around 50-70$ per sq ft. Most of these houses are well constructed and make UK properties look like crap. With wage parity there is no reason the same house would cost less in the UK, so a 2000 sq ft house probably should cost around 100k USD or 70k GBP........ that alone should make you all reaslise the UK is a cess pit with hogs feeding of your sweat and equity.

[rettah]

Most of these houses are well constructed and make UK properties look like crap

Not true. Most US houses are timber frame crap and most UK houses are solid bricks and mortar. (US has lots of timber we have lots of clay). I would never buy a timber frame house as I would be concerned about robustness, noise, temperature control (no thermal mass) and how long it would last. As for cost, housing in the UK is probably somewhere from £50 sqft upwards. I'm a structural Engineer by the way.

[Ski]

Not true. Most US houses are timber frame crap and most UK houses are solid bricks and mortar. (US has lots of timber we have lots of clay). I would never buy a timber frame house as I would be concerned about robustness, noise, temperature control (no thermal mass) and how long it would last. As for cost, housing in the UK is probably somewhere from £50 sqft upwards. I'm a structural Engineer by the way.

Now, there's a serious debate waiting to get out of this one. I'm thinking of building my own house, once land prices have crashed some more. A relative at Xmas was singing the praises of timer framed buildings, citing Scandenavia as a reason for building one. Do you have any recommendations for sources of information to assisst in investigation ?

[ken_ichikawa]

Not true. Most US houses are timber frame crap and most UK houses are solid bricks and mortar. (US has lots of timber we have lots of clay). I would never buy a timber frame house as I would be concerned about robustness, noise, temperature control (no thermal mass) and how long it would last. As for cost, housing in the UK is probably somewhere from £50 sqft upwards. I'm a structural Engineer by the way.

How true, I find it particularly annoying in tornado country , it appears the people there have never heard of the 3 little pigs story, ie one year their house gets taken away by a tornado so they rebuild it with wood , it gets blown away again so they rebuild it with wood, it gets blown away again and they rebuild it with wood...

Same with californian forest fires it getsburnt down so they rebuild with wood it gets burnt down again so they rebuild it with wood.

Sympathy tends to run dry after they repeat the same mistake over and over.

In Hong Kong you get a category 3-4 Typhoon and nobody bats an eye lid taxis still run (but cost 400% more) , category 5 apolcalypse type typhoons haven't happened yet but HK is built from concrete and lots of it....

Infact if you nuked HK since it is 99% made of concrete most of the people would die but most of the concrete structures would stay intact....

[ken_ichikawa]

Now, there's a serious debate waiting to get out of this one. I'm thinking of building my own house, once land prices have crashed some more. A relative at Xmas was singing the praises of timer framed buildings, citing Scandenavia as a reason for building one. Do you have any recommendations for sources of information to assisst in investigation ?

Concrete cladd with wood with a mylar layer on the inside and outside of the concrete, although the UK climate is not as hot as in HK , in the summer (well there aren't any winters in HK anymore) the concrete acts as a storage heater and you can feel the heat radiate from the walls when the sun goes down...

In the winter though it sucks the heat out of your room so you turn your heater off just for 30 minutes and a previously warm room goes all cold and wet...

wooden clad concrete is best of both worlds , as the wood and mylar on the outside prevent the concrete becoming a storage heater, and it also keeps heat in...

Also when we get nuked you will survive.

[maxD]

Property developers go for on average 20% returns but greedy ones go for more or have been. I think the OP is right to think about these things. A house is say 100k materials and all the rest is 500% speculation

I just build a house in Prague in CZ because I did not want to pay the speculation part but it is a lot of time and trouble, 1.5 years from buying to finishing.

The land cost me 100K. Materials and furnishing 250k. So all in cost me 350 but it is pretty big, over 400m2 and 1200m2 of land with a forrest at the back.

What would you pay for this in the UK? I have attached a pic.

Edited December 31, 2008 by maxD

[judas]

I've always wondered what the average build cost of a new build 3-bed house is? Of course there are variables, such as greenfield vs brownfield land costs (clean up costs, etc.), building materials, labour costs, etc.. I've heard that its in the region of 70 grand.

How much profit (in percentage terms) does the average developer expect to make per house? In the future, will the build cost of a house be marginal against its selling cost?

Roughly £1250 per sq m for a 2 level.

[Henrik]

Not true. Most US houses are timber frame crap and most UK houses are solid bricks and mortar. (US has lots of timber we have lots of clay). I would never buy a timber frame house as I would be concerned about robustness, noise, temperature control (no thermal mass) and how long it would last. As for cost, housing in the UK is probably somewhere from £50 sqft upwards. I'm a structural Engineer by the way.

With regards to heat retention, if you built a timber frame house, you wouldn't just have the timber frame, you'd add a new fangled invention called "insulation", something that has yet to make an appearance on the UK bricks & mortar market

In my experience, most UK houses seem to suffer from some form of subsidence with cracks in walls, door frames etc. Not seen this as much in Scandinavian houses. Maybe this is because the timber has a little bit of give in it before it cracks, rather than bricks that don't stretch at all?

[ken_ichikawa]

With regards to heat retention, if you built a timber frame house, you wouldn't just have the timber frame, you'd add a new fangled invention called "insulation", something that has yet to make an appearance on the UK bricks & mortar market

In my experience, most UK houses seem to suffer from some form of subsidence with cracks in walls, door frames etc. Not seen this as much in Scandinavian houses. Maybe this is because the timber has a little bit of give in it before it cracks, rather than bricks that don't stretch at all?

Bah last place I lived in had cavity wall insultation little while balls of poly styrine , which is probably a fire harzard , much worse was the fact that it made a PERFECT ant colony, and in the summer any cracks in the walls millions of the beggars would come out

[FreeDoc]

Same with californian forest fires it getsburnt down so they rebuild with wood it gets burnt down again so they rebuild it with wood.

The main reason for the above is that california is prone to earthquakes at regular intervals. Timberframes withstand earthquakes better than solid concreate structures. Besides, you do not want bricks and mortar fall on you during earthquakes .

[dundee]

Well 3 years ago built 1.5 story 4 bed 2 baths in barry by Dundee for total £75000, land was £26000, sourced a very comprehensive kit from here http://www.deesidetimberframe.co.uk/prices.htm right down to triple mirrors in 2 largest bedrooms, and screws for the door hinges. You also get all the vat back on materials, think I claimed around 9k, also very satisfying. Make sure you have a good self build insurance covering thefy, accidents, etc, also I went down nhbc solo route make it easier to sell on with what evers left of the 10 yr warranty, its deff. better than architect cert.

[FreeDoc]

As for cost, housing in the UK is probably somewhere from £50 sqft upwards. I'm a structural Engineer by the way.

£50 sq ft is too low. Naturally it depends very much on where you build your house (up north its cheaper due to lower wages and materials costs). I have researched this before and the costs were in the region of £100 - £120 per sq ft depending on specification.

A good place to start the research is here.

http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/

[ken_ichikawa]

The main reason for the above is that california is prone to earthquakes at regular intervals. Timberframes withstand earthquakes better than solid concreate structures. Besides, you do not want bricks and mortar fall on you during earthquakes .

Doesn't seem to affect Japanese folks much though and they live in concrete jungles.

[Kaine]

have done the figures a few times on different sized houses - of course it all depends on how much you can do yourself however for 70k you can build a 5 bed house (aka Barratt type style) or add 20k if you don't do anything yourself. Switch to Timber framed and your looking to add another 30-50k to the build cost

Kaine

[MJS]

Well 3 years ago built 1.5 story 4 bed 2 baths in barry by Dundee for total £75000, land was £26000, sourced a very comprehensive kit from here http://www.deesidetimberframe.co.uk/prices.htm right down to triple mirrors in 2 largest bedrooms, and screws for the door hinges. You also get all the vat back on materials, think I claimed around 9k, also very satisfying. Make sure you have a good self build insurance covering thefy, accidents, etc, also I went down nhbc solo route make it easier to sell on with what evers left of the 10 yr warranty, its deff. better than architect cert.

Which one of those kits did you buy and how long did it take to set up?

[maxD]

£50 sq ft is too low. Naturally it depends very much on where you build your house (up north its cheaper due to lower wages and materials costs). I have researched this before and the costs were in the region of £100 - £120 per sq ft depending on specification.

A good place to start the research is here.

http://calculator.bcis.co.uk/

Yes I think you about right there but really you should calculate per m3 because some people build their houses 2.50 and other like high ceilings up to 3m.

Timber framed houses save on labour because you can do the shell quickly whereas a brick house will need more work for bricks, plastering and so on.

I looked into some houses on grand designs that were frames slotted together and was still 450,000 euros. Not a good time for Uk people to buy in euros BUt still they were not cheap.

http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/grand...-06-04_p_1.html

"This is an unusual building for several reasons; it's not English, it's timber framed and it's topped by a split roof in three sections. Also, at around £450,000, it's not cheap."

Edited December 31, 2008 by maxD

[abharrisson]

Builders do benefit from economies of scale, buying land prior to planning etc etc, they also though have to fund local schools and put infrastructure in as part of the deal, some have to provide "social" housing.... either way... I suspect the initial "laughing" price on new builds factors in at a rough guess a 30% profit margin... that then gets reduced when they offer you the shiny new toaster etc.

Personally I would never ever ever buy a new build, even the best ones are not nearly as well built as older housing, a lot of them now have poorly screwed together "modern" features which are just bound to go wrong (like underfloor heating), the developers normally take ages to fix any problems, the guarantee is difficult to claim against and even if you do get a 20% discount (which most do not), you are still paying 10% over the odds.

Just as there are cases now of new build flats and houses being hit really really hard so to when the market was rising there are literally thousands of cases where owners were expecting the "value" of their houses to have risen only to find that efectively any gain had been eaten up effectively by the profit for the developer included in the deal..... in other words they paid far too much.

Sadly people will continue to buy new builds as they can't see beyind the word NEW... OOOOh "new kitchen, new carpets, oooh new power shower.... ooh new 50 inch plasma..... ooooh isn't it nice".... they allocate a "value" mentally to all the "new" stuff forgetting it'll be "used" as soon as they move in, and that in total the bits they oooh and aaaahhh about are probably only about 5% of the price.... they could buy normally a similarly sized victorian place and put thise things in if they really want them and still end up with change.... people are mugs especially those who buy new builds.

[ken_ichikawa]

Sadly people will continue to buy new builds as they can't see beyind the word NEW... OOOOh "new kitchen, new carpets, oooh new power shower.... ooh new 50 inch plasma..... ooooh isn't it nice".... they allocate a "value" mentally to all the "new" stuff forgetting it'll be "used" as soon as they move in, and that in total the bits they oooh and aaaahhh about are probably only about 5% of the price.... they could buy normally a similarly sized victorian place and put thise things in if they really want them and still end up with change.... people are mugs especially those who buy new builds.

People like my dad (though he bought at the trough of the last crash) , he never buys anything not new and is often dismayed by my 6-15 prior owner bikes none of which are newer than 1999.

[maxD]

have done the figures a few times on different sized houses - of course it all depends on how much you can do yourself however for 70k you can build a 5 bed house (aka Barratt type style) or add 20k if you don't do anything yourself. Switch to Timber framed and your looking to add another 30-50k to the build cost

Kaine

If you have ever built a house you would know that you do not get much for 70k. A bungalow perhaps. I would double that amount and you are getting to a reasonable size that you can live in.

[dundee]

Which one of those kits did you buy and how long did it take to set up?

Portree developed, the undeveloped portree is a bungalow, so I had larger roof trusses, velux windows, stairs, extra flooring etc, seemed worth the extra cost to get 2 extra bedroom, the u/s were the largest, bathroom, and a large cupboard which we stuck another velux in and it became a small office. Edited to say about 5 months from cleared site, to move in, there was about 6 months before start to deal with warrants / p/p etc

Edited December 31, 2008 by dundee

[maxD]

Personally I would never ever ever buy a new build, even the best ones are not nearly as well built as older housing, a lot of them now have poorly screwed together "modern" features which are just bound to go wrong (like underfloor heating), the developers normally take ages to fix any problems, the guarantee is difficult to claim against and even if you do get a 20% discount (which most do not), you are still paying 10% over the odds.

New build is great if you do it yourself with an architect. You can build it much better than they ever did with old technology. The problem is buying a new build from a developer is that they want to squeeze a decent margin out and will be cheap. That also goes for old developers. My parents bought a house in Winchester from the 50's and it has zero insulation qualities.

[grantch]

I'm a Chartered Quantity Surveyor and Construction Project Manager with over 20 years experience in various types of buildings. Housing isn't my speciality but I know a little bit about it.

The BCIS calculator linked in an earlier post is a good starting point but bear in mind that any such calc is a broad tool. It's almost impossible to put an accurate figure on a generic house (particularly a single property) unless you know the ground conditions, access requirements etc. You'd need to comply with various regulations (planning & building regs most significantly).

As far as developers go, there is a huge difference in the different types of houses...for example the regulations imposed on developers of "social housing" for Housing Associations etc requires them to build to a very high "environmental" standard - which adds significant cost for, frankly, no benefit whatsoever (but does help "save the planet" if you believe in that sort of crap). Developers for private housing have slightly less regulation to deal with. In the good times, developers can probably expect to make a decent return of 20% ish on housing - which isn't really unreasonable...at the moment developers are going bust hand over fist.

BTW, there is nothing wrong with a good quality timber frame construction, indeed there are some excellent new panel systems around now that allow very quick construction at reasonable costs and build the insulation etc in with the construction - often timber framed. Not all timber frame buildings are like the 1980's Barratts houses )