Room to Improve’s Patricia Power: ‘I can’t see any drop in prices in the short to medium term’

Soaring construction costs have put pressure on many homebuilders and renovators, but while the rush for building supplies may have eased off, quantity surveyor Patricia Power isn’t expecting any price reductions yet.

Famed for her role on Room to Improve, where she tried to rein in Dermot Bannon’s over-spending tendencies in earlier series of the RTÉ programme, Power would encourage people not to put plans on hold in the hope of price reductions but instead try to work on an alternative option.

“I have had a few clients who put a pause on the works, hoping for prices to reduce,” she says. “But this hasn’t happened and I believe that we are a few years away from any major price reduction.

“So my advice would be to plan well and see if you can make your current area work for you. If not, I would suggest building smaller and smarter in the current climate.

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“Limit your trades and try and simplify the build to control costs – also make sure you use professionals and contractors you know and trust.”

Building supplies

When it comes to the cost of inputs such as timber, Power says that while there has been talk about the recent reduction in timber, this only relates to the material at source and it hasn’t “filtered down through the ranks”.

“The timber made and produced at the higher price is sitting in warehouses and will continue to be sold at the price it was produced at,” she says. “We are still seeing some increases, not at the month-on-month increase rate of 2020/2021, but on ironmongery fittings, insulation, plasterboard and skim – all very essential building materials. And with increased costs in production due to high utility bills, we are still seeing a high price of materials and the low supply of specialist trades in the industry. These [factors] are holding the price increases which occurred in the last two to three years and I can’t see any drop in this in the short to medium term.

“But there is an improvement on building supplies and the crazy long leads are returning to more normal times. So while prices still remain high, supply has caught up with demand.”

Power, who works in the “one-off bespoke housing area”, says while she has seen costs go from a minimum of €300 per sq ft up to €700 sq ft, this is down to the “complexity” of the build.

“We need to achieve a good low energy efficient houses with best insulation, airtightness and renewable heat source and this becomes a more expensive build,” she says. “Other contributing factors are high floor-to-ceiling heights, open spans, overall design impact, a large amount of glazing and a lot of stone or brick elements, which can drive up cost.”

Advice and inspiration

The building expert will be sharing her knowledge at the 2023 Permanent TSB Ideal Home Show, which returns to the RDS Simmonscourt on April 21st-23rd. Power, who is known for her “straight-talking, no-nonsense approach”, will deliver advice on how to stick within budget while also preserving design aspirations.

The event will feature advice from home improvement professionals and suppliers from around the country and will also have talks from design influencers and celebrity home improvers, and workshops on how to reduce energy costs, avail of home energy grants and how to plan and manage a successful new build or renovation.

There will be cooking demonstrations by celebrity chef Neven Maguire and inspiration for home renovation projects at the DFS Interiors Inspiration Centre, where four design creatives – Susan McGowan, Natasha Rocca Devine, Sarah Battle and Yvonne Melinn – will show their four room sets. A team from Permanent TSB will offer advice on the steps to buying a home.