Price increases of 20 to 100 percent. These are crazy times for both home buyers and the parties building the homes. Hardly any construction project can be carried out in accordance with the original agreements. “I can’t see into the future, that’s why I think it’s important to always stay in touch with the customer.”
Mark Houtsma is the owner of a construction company in Mierlo and a contractor. He sympathizes with people for whom he builds a house. But he would be a thief of his own pocket if he didn’t pass on the ever-increasing prices for building materials to his customers.
“The prices are really going sky high. Normally, the costs increase by three to five percent per year. Insulation material has now become twenty to thirty percent more expensive in a few years. I also have to pay thirty to forty percent more for facing bricks. And wood has perhaps increased in price a hundred percent,” Houtsma sums up.
He and his colleagues in the construction industry are confronted with it every day. “These are really huge price increases that the entire industry is dealing with. Every day we receive emails stating that materials needed to build a house, from foundation to ridge, have become more expensive again. It is simply no longer possible to make fixed price agreements, because you do not know what can still happen. And then the transport costs also increase.”
The energy surcharge is the biggest culprit, Houtsma knows. “You need natural gas for the production of bricks or roof tiles. But glass is also becoming extra expensive. Furthermore, a surcharge is actually charged across the board on the purchase of products.”
“Everywhere materials come from, it messes up.”
The building contractor cites a few more reasons for the ongoing price increases. “It’s just very busy in construction. Many houses have to be built, which is one of the reasons why there is a shortage among traders. Furthermore, the war in Ukraine is not cooperating. Everywhere materials come from, things get messy,” says Houtsma.
If we are to believe him, the end is not yet in sight. “It will be a while before we get back to normal, if we can ever get back there. I find it especially difficult for the customers. They don’t know where they stand. Building a house is already expensive, but with the increased costs and increasingly higher quality requirements from the government, it is not getting any cheaper. For example, insulation must be thicker and there are more rules that a new house must comply with.”
He continues: “In the meantime, the price is only going up. I find this all worrying. I think in the longer term we are going back to a crisis situation and not come out of a vicious circle.”
“Looking at alternatives together with the customer.”
Houtsma finds it all the more important to keep in touch with his customers. “Even before a project starts, I point out possible price increases and what the consequences of this could be. For example, that together we come up with alternatives for materials that have risen exorbitantly in prices. In this way we try to accommodate customers in order to continue to work within the agreed budget.”
High construction costs are not the only reason why construction projects sometimes get off to a slow start. In this video we explain:
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