Regional Variation and Other Variations in Home Improvement Prices
The prices quoted on whatprice.co.uk either have the location specified, or are based on the average price for the UK as a whole. To adjust the prices for home improvement material prices please use the index below:
Regional Material Cost Index
- East Anglia 86
- East Midland 85
- Inner London 110
- North 88
- North West 87
- Outer London 102
- South East 93
- South West 88
- Northern Ireland 81
- Scotland 85
- Wales 86
Readers in East Anglia, therefore, should reduce the material costs by 7%
If buying materials from smaller outlets, however, the costs may be significantly higher.
Builder's charges variations
Construction costs are the result of adding together the total cost of labour, materials, plant, tools and overheads. This figure, plus profit, is what a contractor should be charging for his services. But this figure can be influenced by other factors such as the builder's workload. If he is busy, he will quote you above the going rate, if he is quiet, he may come under it.
The size of the job can also influence the quotation. For example, it may only take a plumber a matter of minutes to replace a washer, and should charge, say £5. But if he has travelled an hour each way to do the work, you can expect a much higher bill than that!
Most builders look at the time it would take to do small jobs in terms of half-day units and will charge accordingly. The benefit of competitive rates will only appear when a few days' work is involved.
There are three main groups that carry out home improvement work:
a) small firms having a manned office and registered for VAT
b) a one-man firm working from home
c) a tradesman who works in the evenings and weekends outside his full-time job.
In this website it assumed that the firm in a) above will carry out the work but VAT has not been included in the costs unless stated.
The assessments of labour hours and material costs are based upon the author's knowledge and experience and it is unlikely that all of the figures quoted will apply in every situation.
The information should be accurate enough, however, to provide a valuable source of information to help home-owners in the upkeep and improvement of their properties.