Construction costs: Cystat data vs reality

[tom.want]

I am curious if the CYSTAT data on construction cost is close to reality or not. They publish this Excel doc: https://library.cystat.gov.cy/NEW/CONST ... 120724.xls

On line 25 with the title "Average cost per square metre of new dwellings completed in the private sector (€)" we see prices/m².
For 2022 it shows 1178€. So 2024 is probably +10% or so. Does that line up with reality?

[Vendela]

NO!

First you don't find a good construction company since they all are busy until for ever, and second, you can easily count in about 2000€/m2 - otherwise nobody will lift a finger. We are at 2500€/m2 now and that is the bare minium, it is an uncomplicated house with no luxury other than being good insulated with good windows.

[Nigel Howarth]

There is a difference between cost and price.

Cost is what the construction industry has to pay for labour, materials, etc. to build the dwelling.

Price is what the purchaser has to pay for the dwelling.

You can't compare apples and oranges.

Regards,

[tom.want]

NO!

First you don't find a good construction company since they all are busy until for ever, and second, you can easily count in about 2000€/m2 - otherwise nobody will lift a finger. We are at 2500€/m2 now and that is the bare minium, it is an uncomplicated house with no luxury other than being good insulated with good windows.

So you're saying 2500/m² is the current going rate if you get a general contractor which does some things and sub-contracts everything else out to specialists like electricians, etc. In my experience you pay for a lot of mark-up that way and it would be advisable to work with the specialist contractors themselves. Thing is I talked to a Cypriot friend of mine recently and he claimed construction cost on his house was 1000/m² recently. Then I find these government stats above backing up his number. Let me ask one more question:

What's the €/m² number for the bare-bones shell of a building, eg foundations, walls, roof, windows, door but excluding floor finished, electrical, plumbing, heating, A/C, etc?

[tom.want]

There is a difference between cost and price.

Cost is what the construction industry has to pay for labour, materials, etc. to build the dwelling.

Price is what the purchaser has to pay for the dwelling.

You can't compare apples and oranges.

Regards,

Good point. Allow me to follow up so we can't narrow down the definition of what I mean. I am not talking about €/m² of a finished house, including plot and whatever they spend on marketing cost. I am talking about a situation where I have a plot and maybe also even already finished architucal plans.
I am just interested in the €/m² for hiring a structual building company to do the concrete, electricians, plumber, etc. It's this the number the government stats try to capture? If you're saying that these are internal costs of builders, then maybe we'd have to add 10% of internal builder profit, markups aren't huge in that business.

I am just trying to wrap my head around the fact that I hear 2000 or 3000 thrown around by some people like above, but then I hear much lower numbers too, plus these pretty detailed gov stats.

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi Tom

1. We bought land and had a RIBA architect draw up plans + structural engineer.
2. Agreed design.
3. Got a quantity surveyor to prepare Bills of Quantities.
3. Issue ITTs to five building contractors.
4. Shortlisted 3 contractors
5. Inspected houses built by 3.
6. Selected contractor.
7. Made small adjustment to plans, haggled price, signed contract (JCT Standard Building Contract) plus architect's standards.
8. We bought all of the fixtures, fittings and finishes - with the exception of the sockets & light switches.
9. Subcontracted electromechanical works to specialised company.

You can't self-build. You need a registered contractor - all of whom are licenced to build up to a certain size & complexity.

Back in 2002 when we signed the contract the construction price was around CYP400/sqm. We spent a further CYP 50k on fixtures, fittings, central heating, aircon, water softener, etc, etc.

[Vendela]

[/quote]

So you're saying 2500/m² is the current going rate if you get a general contractor which does some things and sub-contracts everything else out to specialists like electricians, etc. In my experience you pay for a lot of mark-up that way and it would be advisable to work with the specialist contractors themselves. Thing is I talked to a Cypriot friend of mine recently and he claimed construction cost on his house was 1000/m² recently. Then I find these government stats above backing up his number. Let me ask one more question:

What's the €/m² number for the bare-bones shell of a building, eg foundations, walls, roof, windows, door but excluding floor finished, electrical, plumbing, heating, A/C, etc?
[/quote]

Information from 2002 is not valid today. Sorry.

Please forget all those information they give you. We even got it written by our architect, that our house is 1000/m2 - and now the offers are in and we are close to not build at all.

You can count bare bone only the structure about half of the end cost. We don't use a general contractor. But you will need a building company who collects all bills under their name. Yes, I know, it is stupid. But otherwise you can't reduce the VAT if you are entitled to it.

What is very important: You need an architect, a structural engineer, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer, enviromental survey, geological survey, quantity surveyor, energy pass. These costs alone was 50000 for us and there is NO way to get around it. Yes, I have looked the same when I saw the number. In the end nobody is responsible, they are very good in blaming everyone else.

To be honest, it was a big mistake for us to buy the plot. But I know, that given the horrible quality of second hand houses, it would not have been better so renovate one. I am used to EU standard so I can't cope with this "quality" to be honest and that was our first reason to build new.

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi Vendela

I'm sorry to hear you've had such bad experience, but €1,000/sqm is a joke!

In 2022, the cost/sqm. alone was €1,188/sqm.

The costs include:

1. expenses for architectural designs, civil, electrical, mechanical engineering and energy efficiency studies,
2. fees for the issuing of planning and building permits,
3. labour expenses and costs for building materials,
4. the cost of services of the main building contractor and
5. value added tax (VAT), where applicable.

I've been look at the price I paid for my house, which was completed in 2004. At that time construction costs/sqm was €665. I paid €936/sqm. (I guess today it would be more than double that figure.)

Plus I paid for the architect, structural engineer, quantity surveyor, mechanical engineering works, underfloor heating, all the fixtures & fittings (with the exception of the wall sockets & light switches), all the carpentry (with the exception of the front door and bathroom), the kitchen & utility room units and tops and the planning and building permits.

You don't need to use a 'building company' to reduce/recover VAT. the invoices went to my architect and he issued me monthly invoices. But I had to pay VAT on all the fixtures & sittings I bought separately but managed to negotiate a 15% discount on virtually all the bits and pieces.

From how many 'building companies' did your architect invite tenders?

Regards,

[Vendela]

Nigel, with all due respect, and I have a lot for you, you are so behind what is happening right now. Your experience from 20 years ago has nothing to do with reality today.

I had an QS and now have 4 offers. One is significantly cheaper than the others, it is a good contractor and his offer is the only that resembles any of the QS numbers. There you see: they have enough work so they don't care. We are actually more at 3500/m2 - since we get a lift and a garage and some extras. When I count in the usual numbers we are still over 2500/m2 without VAT! Negotiation is very cumbersome, they know exactly where they stand. The raw house without windows, heating, electrical and mechanical, furniture etc. is roughly at 1500 right now. Without the plot and planning costs of course. Alone the surveys for the plot were 8000 all together, architects and engineers are total of 50000. I had many offers which were far higher too.

The architect does not do the VAT thing, they don't lift any more fingers than necessary, so it is the contractor who collects all bills under his name. There is NO way around it, we have tried.

[Nigel Howarth]

Hi Vendela

Yes - you're right. I've been checking the price on new houses around the same size as mine.

Today my house would cost around €800,000 to build - excluding the cost of the land, which I bought in 1992.

That's ridiculous! The least expensive new home I could find was priced at €2,863/sqm. Miles from anywhere.

Regards,

[Vendela]

If we knew before we would not have bought the plot at all.

We are now regretting it deeply. All my positive attitude about having a house here is gone. It is so much money and then you still don't get real EU quality but something that is ridiculous from our view.

The building quality here is like in DACH region but in the 80s of the last century. EU demands high energy standards in the near future and so many will discover that they will have to upgrade for top money. This will be the next hit for home owners.

[tom.want]

In 2022, the cost/sqm. alone was €1,188/sqm.

The costs include:

1. expenses for architectural designs, civil, electrical, mechanical engineering and energy efficiency studies,
2. fees for the issuing of planning and building permits,
3. labour expenses and costs for building materials,
4. the cost of services of the main building contractor and
5. value added tax (VAT), where applicable.

Assuming you already own the plot, what else is there except your points 1-5 from above? If you hire a building contracts directly and hand him the architects and engineers plans, what other expense are added on top the the "cost" as defined above?

I've been look at the price I paid for my house, which was completed in 2004. At that time construction costs/sqm was €665. I paid €936/sqm. (I guess today it would be more than double that figure.)
Regards,

Now that an interesting, real-world number. Thanks for sharing Nagel. So in 2004 the real-world price of contruction was 40% higher than the "cost" as stated in the Cystat table. I wonder how exactly Cystats collects these "cost" numbers. Are these values from building permits?

[tom.want]

That's ridiculous! The least expensive new home I could find was priced at €2,863/sqm. Miles from anywhere.
Regards,

That's including the land right?

[tom.want]

I had an QS and now have 4 offers. One is significantly cheaper than the others, it is a good contractor and his offer is the only that resembles any of the QS numbers. There you see: they have enough work so they don't care. We are actually more at 3500/m2 - since we get a lift and a garage and some extras.

Thanks for the numbers. Seems a little high. Can you tell us how many total covered m² you're looking to build? The reason I am asking is because sure a lift drives up cost, but it a fixed cost and get cheaper the larger your house is. A lift over 3 floor should be about 25k, maybe 30k. For a 300m² house that would add 83€/m² for a 1000m² house only 25€/m².
I don't understand why a garage would drive up your cost/m². If anything it drives the cost/m² down because garages are much cheaper to build than -say - bathrooms, or kitchens.

You can easily spend a lot on premium finishes of coarse which would get you easly to 3500/m². Marble floors instead of ceramic tiles, etpremium wood doors, designer goods in the bathroom, etc

When I count in the usual numbers we are still over 2500/m2 without VAT! Negotiation is very cumbersome, they know exactly where they stand. The raw house without windows, heating, electrical and mechanical, furniture etc. is roughly at 1500 right now. Without the plot and planning costs of course.

Now it gets interesting. The raw house (concrete shell) costs should be a lot more comparable, since there isn't as much variability as in the other costs which may or may not include premium features. I could be wrong, but 1500 seem on the higher end. I guess it depends on the plot and how much excavation you need and how far it is from the next concrete factory.

Alone the surveys for the plot were 8000 all together, architects and engineers are total of 50000. I had many offers which were far higher too.

50k sounds realistic. Good number for know because these are upfront costs, before any real dirt work starts.

[tom.want]

I'll try to make a list with a few number from here and other sources which I will link:

Cystat (2022): € 1178
Vandela from this thread (2024): € 3500
Fast Forward(2024): Starting at €1,800 Link
Cyprus Next (2024): from 1,000 to 3,000 euros Link
Dom (2022): 1200-1500 euros Link

It caught my eye that the Cystat numbers and Dom low-end number for 2022 match, so it is probably a good assumption that Cystat will be low-end numbers rather than average as they should be.
The 1800€/2024 number from Fast Forward seems like a realistic increase from the 2022 numbers, given the high inflation between 2022 and 2024.
It is also backed up here: https://www.brief.com.cy/oikonomia/kypr ... na-ktiseis
If we assume the 1800€ is the low-end number for finished floor/no furniture construction, then a raw concrete shell should be around 900€/m², including windows and doors (naturally not top of the line ones).

Vandela, your numbers seem to be almost double that. Sure, you might build with premium finishes, but is 1500€/m² for the raw concrete shell without doors and windows really a good price in Cyprus these days? Are you doing something special? Double foundation with earthquake-proof layer in between? Super difficult plot on a steep hillside?