Controlling costs early on ensures a successful project

One of the first questions you will ask when discussing your project with your architect is ‘how much is it going to cost’. As construction industry professionals it is important to us to give you guidelines as to what is going to be achievable for your budget and discuss this with you at our first meeting.

Clients are often surprised about how much a finished building project will cost. When factoring in the overall costs, it’s important to understand that the shell costs (i.e. foundations, floors and building envelope) are only part of the cost. Typically the fit-out of your home will be about 40% of the total costs.

Entrance door of the existing house before work started

Often we find that our clients have chatted to friends and builders, and use examples from home renovation programmes to gauge how much their proposed project might cost – unfortunately these can be wildly optimistic!

Using costs per square metre can be useful, however caution needs to be taken when looking at refurbishment and extension projects. Typical costs are £1800/m2 for a basic new build raising to £2500/m2 for high end projects whilst for extension projects this is likely to be in the region of £2500/m2.

Extension completed with an internal re-work

As experts in our field we can give an early indication of what the costs might be – however to ensure you can move forward with confidence we engage with a quantity surveyor early on (pre-planning) to carry out a budget cost exercise.

This third party cost specialist will be able to give an estimate of potential costs using their professional expertise to create a schedule of costs which will include all elements of the build – from foundations through to decoration – based on the initial design information.

A typical budget cost break down will give a guideline cost for each building element

This gives our clients a good guideline to potential costs. At this stage we might consider how to pare back the proposals to make them more affordable prior to submitting a planning approval. What is important is that the scheme submitted for planning is a reflection of what you can afford to build.

At Kimble Roden we are experts at maximizing your budget and advising you how to create the most impact for your money. Part of service is to keep you informed about costs throughout the project journey and creating a budget cost early on allows you to control your finances towards a successful project.

For an initial consultation with an expert please contact us via +44 (0) 1625402442 or email.

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