Rising costs stall Birmingham house extension for two years

Sabiha Islam said the delays to her house renovation had left her "quite emotional"

A woman who is unable to get builders to finish her house extension believes rising material costs may be to blame.

Sabiha Islam, from Birmingham, started the project two years ago and has seen four building companies come and go.

She said it was "traumatising, because your living standard, your house, everything is so affected".

The Federation of Master Builders (FSB) said in the first quarter of 2022, 83% of its members had been forced to put up prices for customers.

Ms Islam said her porch is still without a roof and her perimeter wall was unfinished.

Sabiha Islam is looking for a builder to complete her home renovation

The FSB has said 73% of small builders had delayed jobs because of a lack of materials.

During the pandemic, the industry was hit by a price hike due to a number of factors including unprecedented demand and Brexit, but businesses say the challenges show no sign of abating.

Building material suppliers have reported cement, timber and plastics increasing in cost significantly, sometimes daily.

Louise Norman from Darlaston Builders Merchants said the company had looked for alternative suppliers

Louise Norman from Darlaston Builders Merchants in the West Midlands said: "The difficulty is because it's changing so rapidly we're struggling to keep up with those daily increases."

Mick Daffern, a builder who is renovating a property in Wolverhampton, said: "I think at the beginning, when there was a 10% increase in materials, we could pretty much carry that.

"But as it's gone more and more and more, we're up to 30-40% in some cases."

Mick Daffern believes some customers had delayed building projects because of rising costs

He said he was forced to pay the going rate if he wanted to see the project completed.

But he added: "I think it's causing a lot of customers to think 'shall we have that work done, or shall we leave it for a few years?'"