How To Renovate

EP54 The Hidden Costs Of Renovating

• Tash South

Share episode

Send us a text

In this episode of How To Renovate, I’m helping you see around corners when it comes to your renovation budget. It's so easy to focus on the big, shiny items like kitchens and bathrooms — but what about the hidden costs that quietly creep up on you? Today, we dive into the often-overlooked expenses that can derail your project if you're not prepared, from the real costs of late-stage changes to sneaky permit fees and unexpected accommodation costs. Grab a pen and paper, because this is one episode you'll want to 
take notes on! 

In this episode, amonst many other things! I cover an example of the cost of making changes once work is underway — and why it's so expensive, and how creeping costs like taxes, permits, insurance, and even parking can blow your budget.

Resources Mentioned:

Loved this episode? Please share it with anyone you know who's planning a renovation — it might just save them thousands! And don't forget to leave a rating or review if you found it helpful. Your support helps more renovators find us. 

I’ll see you inside!

*******************


Hi I'm your host, Tash South I'm an Interior Designer and Renovation Consultant.
Each episode of How To Renovate is short, but brimming with practical advice to help you manage your renovation project with confidence and success.

Grab some more renovation advice & free resources and become part of the South Place Studio Renovation Community at
https://www.southplacestudio.com/freebies

Everything I teach about renovation falls within my Five Pillar Process for A Successful Renovation, to learn more about the process, head to
https://www.southplacestudio.com/pillars


Or if you want to get social, you can find us here:

Instagram: @southplacestudio

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/south-place-studio

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/southplacestudio

Speaker 1:

Hello, hello everybody, welcome back to the how to Renovate podcast. It's Tash here and today, in this episode, I am going to help you see around corners. I am going to be talking about the hidden costs of renovating and I'm going to be talking about some of them in the episode so that you can be aware of them and you can be ready when you start your renovation project of these items that you might not know about, that might work their way into your budget. So let's get into the episode. As with everything I teach, the content in this episode falls into my five pillar process and this episode falls under pillar one planning. Okay, so let's get into it. The unseen costs of renovating and how to spot them early Okay. So when you're renovating, it's really easy to just focus on those big ticket items, isn't it? New kitchen, new bathroom, all the flooring, flooring, the tiles, what is the bill going to cost? But you have to be aware that there are some of these hidden costs as well, that I think, if I cover some of these in this episode, it's going to be really helpful to you to just be aware that they exist, to keep your eye on and to add them into your budget, or even just an allowance or an allocation into your budget. So if they come up or if it's something that might apply to your project, you've got that little trigger there to remind you that they might come up. So maybe grab a pen and a paper, make a list.

Speaker 1:

Let's get into this episode. Okay, number one I'm getting tough with you here straight away the real cost of making changes when you're on site. So if you've been listening for a while, you know that I'm all about the planning, making all your decisions in the early stages so that when you get to site you ready, you're ready for your work to start, you're ready with your plans, you're ready with your decisions. But I do know that sometimes things change when people come on site and they actually see the space in real life, 3d. Sometimes changes happen, they just happen. But I want you to be aware of the real cost of making changes.

Speaker 1:

Let's look at an example of, let's say, just moving a wall. Let's just say a wall's been constructed and it needs to be moved. Now the real cost of making changes, of just moving that wall, is not just the cost of moving a wall. It depends what stage you might be up to already. For example, just moving a wall. It obviously has the implications of taking that wall down. That's going to cost you. The wall needs to be rebuilt. That's going to cost you.

Speaker 1:

There might be additional materials if materials get damaged in the taking down of that wall and new materials need to be purchased. Perhaps some plumbing or electrics have already been put into that wall, or perhaps moving the wall is going to affect plumbing and electrics where they might be already, so rerouting those that's going to be an additional cost. Perhaps your plastering has already been started. You then have to take that wall down, replaster it and replaster any other damage that has been done to other walls in the removing or the replacing or the repositioning of that wall. And then, of course, you might have painting and decorating costs as well. So you can see how just moving one wall can easily add up. So the late decision of just moving a wall can suddenly add up to hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more pounds if you're making that decision late.

Speaker 1:

So, yes, some things do change on site. Sometimes things need to be moved. Sometimes it will be better for something to be somewhere else, once you've seen it in real life. But I just want you to be aware. I want you to really examine your plans when you're in planning stage and try and make all your decisions there and, when it comes to changes on site, just be really, really aware of the cost implications and the time as well the time it will add onto your project for making changes.

Speaker 1:

When builders are on site actually working, actually building, making changes, there is the most expensive time to make changes. As I always say, the gold is in the planning. If you can think about exactly what you need and how you want to use the space and where that wall would be best placed in your planning stage, then you are going to save yourself that time and that money during the build phase of your project. But, of course, if you do want to make changes and you feel like it's going to make a huge difference to your home, if you make that change, then that is up to you. But you have to know that it's going to cost you. It might add some time onto your project and then also, that is where your contingency might come in handy as well. But I always say your contingency is best saved for things you couldn't plan for or surprises that come up. So it's a little bit of a waste to use your contingency on things like this, but if it's going to make a huge difference to your project, then perhaps you can use some of your contingency here.

Speaker 1:

Okay, moving on to number two everybody. So some more unseen costs that I see people not preparing for and allocating money for in their budget is those creeping costs taxes, your VAT, permits, insurance, additional accommodation so if you won't be living in your home while works are happening, additional accommodation can be really expensive, can be a huge addition onto your budget. I mean, especially here in London, rent rents are high. So if you're moving yourself or your entire family out of your home in order for the works to progress easily and quickly, that has a cost because you'll need to pay for somewhere to stay if you're not lucky enough to have friends or family to stay with for the duration of your project. So really think about these hidden costs of your project. So really think about these hidden costs, taxes especially really research your taxes. Here in the UK there's even a tax for just purely extending your home. If your extension is bigger than a certain amount of square footage or square meterage, you have to pay a tax on that. So, really, research, look at your planning, look at your planning portal. There's usually lots of information there about these things, about the taxes, how much your planning application costs. All the information should be there. So, really, really, make sure you go and take a look at that before you start your renovation At your budget planning stage. Have a look there and see if you can find anything else, any of these hidden costs, that you need to plug into your budget so that it can be realistic and so that you can be ready for your project.

Speaker 1:

Even things like permits and parking really add up. I remember when we're building a house, we obviously weren't living here at the time because the house was being built from scratch, so we were renting somewhere else. But here in London you cannot get a parking permit unless you're actually living in the property, and because we weren't registered as living in the property on our street, we couldn't get a parking permit, and parking in London is really expensive, and so we had to arrange really really expensive parking for all our trades people, because, of course, they couldn't do their job without bringing their vans and their vehicles to bring all their tools and materials onto site if they couldn't park, and so I do remember our parking for the duration of building this house was extortionate. It came to thousands of pounds, and that is something we did not put in our budget, we did not think about. So just try and think about all of these things, all of these kind of all the admin stuff, all the bureaucracy, the insurances. You have to get renovation insurance to cover you if anything goes wrong. Your builder will have insurance, but you need to have insurance as well. So just make sure that you have a section in your budget for exactly this type of thing, for the taxes, the permits, the insurances so that you make sure that you can allocate for it and not have a huge surprise of possibly thousands of pounds just added onto your budget for something that you didn't even know you'd have to pay for. So do your research here. It's really, really going to help you get to your bottom line and see how you can allocate your budget a lot more accurately and look at it in real terms of what your build is going to cost you.

Speaker 1:

Okay, moving on everybody to number three, we're looking at the hidden cost in quotes. So I have spoken about this a lot before. There's a few podcast episodes on this topic, but what to look out for in your builder quotes, especially so this one's a biggie. Let's say You've done all the work, you've done everything correctly, you've gone to three builders at least. I always say you've got three quotes and one's come in a lot cheaper than the other two, and you're thrilled and you go with that builder. You realize this builder didn't allocate for a lot of the other things the other builders had allocated for, which means that if you had gone with one of the other builders, your project would probably come out cheaper. And why this is because quotes come in in so many different formats. I've found and I talk about this a lot quotes.

Speaker 1:

Quotes are often not like for like, and you must must make sure that when you're getting your builder quotes in, you are comparing like for like, because otherwise you are just exposing yourself to so many hidden costs. Okay, so this is how to do it. You need to make sure that you are guiding your builders in terms of how they are quoting. You have to have to take control. You know, take the reins. Start writing out a list of everything that you need doing or that you think you need doing. This is called a prospective schedule of works, and I'll talk about it in the next point as well. But you need to list everything so that when you're asking your builders to quote, you're actually giving them a template to quote from, and then, when you get those templates back, they should be similar and much, much easier to compare like for like.

Speaker 1:

And then another big one here is to ask your builders for their list of exclusions, because I find every builder seems to leave different things out and they have a different list of exclusions. So the list of exclusions is basically what they are not including in their quote and that you have to buy. You have to pay for separately on top of what they're quoting you for. So just make sure, ask lots of questions, make sure your builders are quoting in the same way. Ask them what's not included, ask them or check if they've included for things like waste disposal, skip hire, project management Sometimes project management is an additional fee on top or they're expecting you to do the project management. So you just need to know what's included and what is not, and the best way to do that is to, as best as you can, get all the builders to quote in a similar way and provide their list of exclusions. And don't be shy with your questions. Ask lots of questions. If the quote is vague or there's just a one liner that says kitchen installation £6,000, you know? Dig deeper. Ask them what does that include? Does that include plumbing? Does that include fitting the appliances? Does that include building the cabinetry? If it's flat back, really dig deep to find out exactly what you are getting for your money. It is so, so important to avoid these hidden costs.

Speaker 1:

Okay, moving on to number four everybody. So now we're on to that schedule of works I just talked about. Number four is how a detailed schedule of works is going to help save you thousands and how it is so worth doing, because the schedule of works for me in a renovation, it's literally my renovation bible. It is the document I refer to the most when I'm renovating. Out of everything that I prepare, of everything in the brief, that is usually the one that helps me run the project well. It helps me keep track of the budget, it helps me communicate with the builder.

Speaker 1:

So taking the time to prepare that schedule of works does those two brilliant things. It does more things. It helps you track. It helps you keep on track of the project. But the two most important things is it helps you prevent those misunderstandings with your contractor, with your builder, because everything is listed out that they need to do and you both are aware of them, so you can both see what is what needs to be done and also what it costs. And then the second very important thing it does is what we just talked about. It helps you really clearly compare quotes like for like, if all your builders are quoting the same way and according to your schedule of works, because your schedule of works is basically an extensive list of every single thing that needs to be done in the project, every single permit, every single management task, every single plug socket. So it really, really is such an important document in your renovation process.

Speaker 1:

So I just wanted to talk about that schedule of works again, because a schedule of works is actually one of the things that is going to help you avoid lots of those hidden costs in your renovation, because if you take the time to research, take the time to list, then that is the document that can actually help you stay on top of your project budget. So that brings us to the end of this episode this week, everybody, I hope it was useful for you and I hope it is going to help you spot some of those hidden costs, because you know, knowledge is power. If you know what might be coming and you've listened to this episode and you're about to approach your renovation, what might be coming and you've listened to this episode and you're about to approach your renovation you can then know that some of these things might come up in your project and you can be ready for them. You can prepare for them. So, happy renovating.

Speaker 1:

Really get into the detail, because you have to budget beyond the Pinterest boards. You've got to ask more questions, you've got to get more quotes, you've got to dig into those quotes, create that schedule of works and always, always, build in a contingency. And if you want some more help on how to get more accurate builder quotes, do go and check out episode 17 how to get more accurate builder quotes. There's a lot more info in there on this topic. Everybody, that's really going to also help you to avoid those hidden costs.

Speaker 1:

Thanks so much for joining me today, everybody, I hope it was valuable to you and if you know anybody who is also renovating, please share it with someone else who's renovating. It may just save you and them thousands of pounds. Thanks for listening. Everybody. Thanks for being here with me today. I really appreciate it and I will see you in the next episode. Bye for now. For more information on my five pillar process for successful renovation, you can go directly to southplacestudiocom forward slash pillars, where you'll find an introduction to the process which covers each of the pillars and what they cover. We also have a number of other free renovation resources. Go now to southplacestudiocom forward slash freebies. I have created some amazing freebies for you there. There is one on the process, like we just said. There is one on planning permission. There is one on kitchen design. There is another one on lighting planning. Go and check those out. There's so much free information there to help you with your renovation.