The cost of building is rising at twice the rate that it was before the pandemic.
As reported in The Irish Times, a new survey from The Society of Chartered Surveyors in Ireland (SCSI) show's prices nationally jumped by seven per cent in first half of 2021.
This is up significantly on the 1.3 per cent recorded in the second half of last year.
Speaking about the rising level of inflation, SCSI vice-president Kevin James made comparisons to the Celtic Tiger.
“The last time we saw comparable rates of tender inflation was in 2000, at the height of the Celtic Tiger,” Mr James said.
“While that highlights the seriousness of the current situation, we believe underlying market conditions are fundamentally different from that era.”
The rise in costs was expected following the reopening of construction in April.
However, the scale of the increase in prices was much greater than expected due to supply chain issues and international competition for building materials.
“Given they account for up to half of overall delivery costs in some instances, a return to more normalised costs for key construction inputs such as timber, insulation, glazing, piping/ducting and steelwork appears likely and will be very welcome,” said Mr James.
“While we have no control over international markets or shipping costs, we would urge Government to address issues within our control.”
