Where new builds outstrip their construction cost

IT costs over twice as much to buy a property than to build 1 in England, suggesting house prices are being fired up well beyond their natural level.

That's according to analysis from Searchland, the development site sourcing specialists, which compared basic building costs in terms of labour and materials to new build prices.

Typical new builds cost 120.1% more than the price of construction, with construction costing £198,000 and new build prices averaging at £436,000, a chasm of £238,000.

South East the biggest premium... The South East has the biggest deferential, where it costs £219,000 to build a property and an average of £533,000 to buy a new build, a huge difference of 142.9%.

This is despite the Region having higher than average construction costs of £210 per square feet.

It's a similar story in London, where it costs £251,000 to build a home compared to a new build average price of £608,000, a huge difference of 142.5%.

The capital has the highest construction cost of £240 per square feet, but that's small fry compared to the huge difference between property prices in London and much of the rest of England.

Other areas with a big gap between the cost of construction and a house price are the South West (138.8%) and the East of England (132.8%).

The North; where construction is closer to new builds... There's a closer relationship between the cost of constructing a new build and the end product in the North of England.

In the North East there's a difference of only 57.8% between the construction cost of £177,497 and the typical new build price of £280,012.

There's similarly just a 71.3% gap in Yorkshire and the Humber, and a 76.0% divide in the North West.

These Region s are also cheaper than most in terms of construction cost per square foot, with Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East coming to £170, and the North West costing a little more at £180.

Co founder and CEO of Searchland, Mitchell Fasanya, commented:- "The wide gap between the basic cost of new builds and actually building 1 in England highlights how supply shortages have fired up the housing market. While it's less of an issue up North, in the South the costs involved and high competition have pushed prices out of reach of many. London and its suburbs are also fuelled by interest from international buyers, meaning the final price has little relationship to underlying labour and material costs. With housing secretary Michael Gove talking up loosening building restrictions on brownfield sites, clearly it makes sense to create new supply to ease this gap between supply and demand, bringing new builds and house building costs closer together for the benefit of new buyers."

Liverpool's visitor behaviour data has published a comprehensive report

PLACE Informatics, the leading provider of footfall and location visitor behaviour data has published a comprehensive report on behalf of Liverpool Council to highlight how Eurovision impacted Liverpool City Centre with footfall numbers increasing by 45%, from:- 5 May to 14 May 2023, compared to data from the same period in 2022.

The report went on to show that unique visitors to the City Centre increased by nearly 100,000 additional visitors during the week. This data shows the positive impact the song contest had on the local economy and businesses, bringing in a huge increase in footfall for the 10 day period around the event.

This report highlights just how popular Eurovision remains as an annual event both across Europe and globally and the huge increase in visitors to Liverpool in May shows how beneficial hosting the singing contest can be; for the host City and the local economy; as it increases footfall locally whilst attracting visitors from across the host country and many international countries too.

Place Informatics uses mobility location data to calculate visitor behaviour patterns for over 2,300 Town Centres across the UK and all 260 Business Improvement District Town Centres. Footfall itself is a useful tool to see how Town Centres, high streets and particular businesses are performing, but understanding how these visitors are behaving and also which catchments areas they are visiting from, offers the vital information needed to support and even help change the fortunes of many Town Centres across the UK.

Clive Hall, CEO of Place Informatics, commented:- "It is interesting to see the impact hosting Eurovision had on Liverpool City Centre. The data shows just how many people visited the City during this period with a huge increase in footfall which undoubtedly will have had a positive impact on local retail, leisure and hospitality businesses. Our data can help:- retailers, hospitality, councils and many other businesses and services understand how visitors are behaving, where visitors come from and most importantly where they go and what services they are utilising on their visit, including green spaces, car parks and public realms."