Material shortages and rising prices in the UK- The effects of Brexit and the pandemic catch up.

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Figure 1.1 Shortage of building Materials (Inman, 2021)

“One of Britain’s biggest builders’ merchants has warned of shortages of materials as the UK construction industry struggles under mounting pressure from the deepest supply chain crisis in decades.” (Partington, 2021)

Currently, in the UK, Construction it is threatened that prices of materials will rise by as much as 5% (Partington, 2021) because of supply chain problems caused by a combination of COVID and Brexit. Materials such as cement, plasterboard and insulation have been rationed whilst others have risen in price, or have a long delivery time, which has in turn caused a decline in the UK construction industry.

After long disruptions in the building industry as a result of the pandemic, building firms- especially smaller firms, are struggling to recover because of rising costs and limitations to their accessible materials. RIBA reports that 63% of practises are experiencing delays on site as a result of this (RIBA, 2021).

Large DIY firms such as IKEA, B&Q and homebased have issued warnings of supply chain problems.

The bank of England forecasts inflation to temporarily rise to 4% this year as a result of issues caused by the pandemic, and then to fall to 2% as we ease back to normality. This is the highest level of inflation for nearly a decade. This is causing the rise in prices of materials as well as the issues in the supply chain.

This is not the only effect that Brexit has had recently, with the shortage of HGV drivers also impacting the supply of Milk and fuel in some areas in recent months.

Speaking to a Building Surveyor working for Laing O’Rourke, he says unprecedented prices of steel has caused a major rise in the cost of projects in Everton, causing the clients to have to find additional funds to continue with the construction. (Knowles, G)

Bibliography

Knowles, G., 2021.

RIBA, 2021. Materials shortages affecting more than 60 per cent of UK architecture practices [Online]. DeZeen. Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2021/07/20/materials-shortages-uk-architecture-riba/ [Accessed 8th October 2021]

Partington, R.J., 2021. Jewson warns of price rises amid shortage of building materials [Online]. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/06/uk-building-firms-materials-staff-construction-industry [Accessed 8th October 2021].

Image References

1.1 Inman, P., 2021. Shortage of Building Materials [Digital Image] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/05/staff-and-materials-shortages-slow-growth-in-uk-construction-sector [Accessed 11th October 2021].