Thinking of renovating your home? You’re not alone. Would-be movers, stymied by high interest rates and a lack of homes for sale, feel stuck. Tired of the “will we, won’t we?” loop, many are deciding to stay put and invest in their home.
Indeed, homeowners took out 14,419 home-improvement loans from July to September last year alone, according to the latest Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) figures. That’s up 13 per cent on the same period in 2022.
People are spending more on home improvements too. The value of loans for renovation was 24 per cent higher than a year earlier.
It’s no wonder – while construction inflation has eased, with the cost of timber and steel coming down slightly, overall building costs are still rising; now it’s the cost and availability of labour that’s the problem.
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“Construction is still extremely unaffordable for people,” says Brigid Browne of the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. “You inform the client that work is going to cost quite a bit of money. They are nodding but they still ask you to do some designs. When it goes to tender and they get the prices back they pull the project. That has happened to me umpteen times.”
Browne has been advising some clients to rethink extension plans in favour of rejigging the existing layout. Families are smaller now and there is also greater emphasis on the cost and environmental impact of heating space.
“Sometimes they think they want an extension but if you look at the existing house and ask what they are doing with the various rooms, you find they are not using some of them so it becomes a conversation – maybe you should look at how you are living in the space rather than adding more space,” she says.
With high demand for labour, it can be hard to find tradespeople to take on smaller jobs.
Some homeowners are picking off more affordable, “low hanging fruit” renovations, Browne adds.
“The bathroom revamp is huge. The plumbing stays the same but you change the bath, sink and toilet, and you can definitely change the tiling – that is huge,” she says.
Others are spending on reflooring and repainting.
“A good interior designer is worth their weight in gold and will transform your entire home,” says Browne.
The kitchen is also a big focus for people. If a homeowner can sort that out, maybe they won’t have to move after all.
“People are saying, will you come to my house?” says Dave Fagan, director at Kube Kitchens, adding that they then say, “We just need to actually decide, are we keeping the house?”
Fagan adds: “Every day of the week customers are saying, ‘We’ve decided to stay; we’re taking out a loan; we just need to make the downstairs work better.’”
Those in their forever home are retrofitting. There were nearly 48,000 home energy upgrades completed with SEAI grants last year – that’s up 76 per cent on the previous year.
More than a third of these householders achieved a B2 or better energy rating. That doesn’t just mean a warmer, more valuable home, it also means access to cheaper “green” mortgage rates for some.
Retrofitting continues apace this year. At the end of last year, the SEAI had received 63,000 energy upgrade applications from homeowners for 2024, according to Minister for Energy Eamon Ryan.
Homeowners are focused on wall and attic insulation and heating controls, and generally that will get them close to a B2 rating, says Conor Walsh, managing director of SEAI-registered installer Encon.
“The average spend on those projects would be €18,000 to €24,000 after grants,” says Walsh.
Where external wall insulation isn’t needed, it’s far cheaper.
Homeowners with older windows, where there is condensation and drafts, are going the One Stop Shop grant route. This covers wall and attic insulation, installing new windows and a heat pump.
“The cost for an average three-bed semi after grants would be between €30,000 and €35,000,” says Walsh.
Solar panels are proving popular with homeowners too. The €5,500 cost for 10 panels after the grant can pay for itself in energy savings in about five years, Walsh adds.
Even with grants, retrofits are pricey and homeowners are still awaiting low-interest home retrofit loans promised by Government. Interest rates of 3-4 per cent for loans up to €75,000 repayable over 10 years have been mooted.
“If they can get this low-cost finance in place, it will be a game changer,” says Walsh. “Homeowners will be able to release equity from their home and have some comfort.”
