The cost of building materials continues to rise and is higher than a year ago, new government figures show.
Monthly statistics from the Department for Business and Trade, released today (July 5), show that the materials price index for all construction work was 1.5 per cent higher in May 2023 than in May of last year.
This included a 4.5% increase in material costs for new homes and a 1.2% increase in repair and maintenance work.
Taking May 2015 as a benchmark of 100, the May 2023 price index for all jobs came in at 155.6, up 1.1% from 153.4 in April.
However, the index, a weighted average of producer price indices, remains slightly below its peak of 156.3 in July last year.
The largest annual price increases were insulating materials (29%), ready-mixed concrete (19%) and screws (33%).
Meanwhile, prices for imported sawn or planed lumber, concrete rebar and fabricated structural steel fell by about a quarter last year.
The figures also indicate a slowdown in activity. There was a 30% annual decline in brick deliveries in the year to May 2023 and a 20% drop in concrete block deliveries.
The high cost of materials, as well as energy and labor costs, are contributing to a drop in the amount of construction work that industry analyst Glenigan recently forecast would take the industry more than two years to recover
Earlier this year, the Mineral Products Association (MPA) warned that “delay and uncertainty” were creating a “difficult environment for private investment” in the extraction of materials.
AMP public affairs director Robert McIlveen said failure to reform the rules for providers would mean “we continue to see the sector face unnecessary costs and bureaucratic barriers, which can increase the cost and the complexity of housing and infrastructure delivery, including the investment required for net zero.”.
