Landlords should pay less when renovating buy-to-let property (30/10/2009)

Landlords planning to refurbish their buy-to-let investments should be aware that with work for builders scarcer than ever, prices are dropping for most construction projects and they too should benefit from this trend.
Tender prices for new construction work are expected to keep falling until 2011, according to the latest forecast from the BCIS, RICS’ Building Cost Information Service.
    The declining workload in the construction sector throughout 2009 has forced contractors to keep tenders low enough to stay competitive, while those clinging on to 2007 prices are rapidly going to the wall. BCIS predicts tender prices will fall 5.2 percent in 2009 and a further 1.8 percent in 2010, before returning to 3.3 percent growth in 2011.
    Joe Martin, Executive Director of BCIS said that a sharp increase in new work from the public sector had contributed to positive data coming from the construction sector in recent months with output starting to fall at a slower rate. However, he warned the industry “It will be several years before we see prices reach pre-recession levels.“


By Andy Stern

© Property Owners Directory 2009