At the Sussex Home Stylist we’re delighted to now offer a complete design and build service in West Sussex. I’m happy to report that it’s been great so far, with a few projects already booked in to start in December and the new year. Rob, my husband, has finally come on board (I’ve been asking for a while!) and will be heading up our build projects. Rob and I met working together and being back working together, this time doing what we really love, is so exciting.

Before Rob had a successful career in Sales, he worked as a builder in Devon. He’s renovated a few of our homes (we get itchy feet!) and has finally hung up his hat as a Commercial Director and is back doing what he really loves. With experience doing such a variety of projects from starting fitting floors in casino’s in Russia, renovating a barn in Northern France and building his own house in Southern France, it’s exciting to bring his building, project management and business skills to The Sussex Home Stylist.

He’s also a bit of a geek when it comes to the property and building market so I thoughts we'd kick off by asking him some questions about the market in general.

What are the trends you’re seeing in the building market in Sussex at the moment?

We’re finding that in general people are staying put at the moment and deciding not to move because of what’s going on with interest rates and general uncertainty in the housing market. Rather than moving house, people are deciding to invest in their homes instead. There are lots of new kitchen projects, new bathrooms and loft conversions going on. People are choosing to make home improvements that invariably still work out cheaper than moving house.

We’ve heard loads about materials going up in price. How is that affecting projects?

We’ve all seen how much our grocery shopping has gone up over the last couple of years and sadly it’s the same situation with building materials. We’ve seen timber go up 100% which is the basis for most builds, and Celotex (insulation) and plasterboard have seen huge hikes in price too. The most recent increase has been bricks which have gone up 30-40% as has cement. Three years ago the price of materials on a loft conversion was about £25-£30,000 and it’s now about £50-£60,000 which once you add VAT makes a huge difference to building materials and overall building costs.

Are there any ways to avoid the expensive hikes in building material costs?

Sadly there’s nothing we can do to avoid the increases, but it’s not all doom and gloom. The good news is that Sussex homes still continue to hold their value and have always faired better than other areas in the country. Doing work to your home will increase the value. A loft conversion, if done right with an en-suite bathroom and smart storage, could up to double your money in terms of the value it adds to your home. It also helps to better insulate your home which has a knock on effect on the cost of heating. You get a much greater thermal value since the new insulation regulations have come in, so you’re killing two birds. It’s worth noting that these days a loft conversion can often be done on permitted development, you often don’t need planning permission so it’s much easier and faster to get going. By the time you add in stamp duty, moving costs are so expensive now that often you’re better off to upgrade your home and enjoy living in your investment than move and start again from scratch. Most people move because they run out of space. We always help our customers to find more space with what they’ve already got.

If you were thinking of doing a building project in this market what kind of things should you be considering?

Angmering Project Living Room — Living Room, Angmering Project

Building Materials

We’ve talked about materials and sadly they are only going to go up more. One thing to consider if you can, is speaking to your builder about buying your materials upfront to avoid price increases. Some suppliers allow you hold purchased stock with them or you can keep them on site but you’re guaranteed to not incur extra charges. The other thing with materials is there can still be a hold up on certain products so ensuring that you can get the quantities of materials you need when you want them is a really good idea. Don’t take that for granted.

The Weather

The other big thing to consider is the weather. The last couple of weeks we’ve seen monsoon type rain like I’ve never seen in the UK and it just keeps on coming. Projects used to have to be wrapped up from the frost in September but that’s not been happening yet this year, but the rain is something else. On a big project that can hugely delay things and add big costs at a later date. Although it may seem like a lot of money, adding a ‘tin hat’ to a project means there will be no delays, which when you have a big crew can be really costly. Make sure you discuss your options with your builder.

Scheduling & Project Management

This is a huge one for us. The more organised you are with scheduling, the less down time you have and the project keeps moving. With good scheduling we can deliver a project in up to half the time. Which is a huge saving on costs. Ask your builder to talk you through the scheduling and how far in advance they are planning the project to keep costs as tight as possible.

Contingency

I always advise our clients to keep a 10% of total budget contingency cost. This is aside from the price rises. If you go to Tesco with a £200 budget, most people will come away having spent more than that. It’s the same with building projects. As we get going opportunities open up and there’s more that people want. Sometimes a layout can slightly change or there’s an opportunity for an extra roof light or window. Having a contingency allows you to really make the most of your build.

Planning, planning, planning

If you shop around there are lots of savings that can be made once your building work has been done and you are designing the space inside. Careful tricks on the eye and space saving opportunities can really make a difference.

Hannah and I are a good team. Hannah works on the design side and I manage the build. We’re both very passionate about delivering a really high end service; we’ve both had it drilled into us over our careers and trained our teams in it during our careers. We both have very different roles and it works well. Having renovated lots of our own homes now we wanted to offer a service that gives our clients exactly what we have always wanted - a great looking home, delivered as affordably as possible.

If you’re thinking about planning a building project in 2023, get in touch below to discuss your project, the diary is already filling up.

And please leave any questions below for Rob or us and we’ll come straight back to you.

Thanks!

Contact us

What you need to know if you're planning a Building Project in Sussex