In 2024, London had the highest housing construction costs for residential buildings in the United Kingdom. The expense of building an apartment high-rise in the UK's capital amounted to 4,133 British pounds per square meter of internal area, while the cost of townhouses were 3,280 British pounds per square meter. Manchester was the second city on the list with the highest residential construction costs.

The construction output price in the United Kingdom has reached an annual growth rate of two percent in September 2024. Construction costs have been increasing at a lower rate than in 2022 and 2023. The year-over-year growth rate reached over 10 percent in May and June of 2022. Public and private housing was the construction segment with the highest output price increase. How have material costs developed over the years? Several factors influence construction material costs, including supply and demand, regulatory requirements, and transportation logistics. Manufacturing efficiency and global trade policies also play a big part, along with economic factors like inflation and currency fluctuations. In June 2022, the price of construction materials for new houses in the UK were 53 percent higher than in 2015. What is the largest component of those costs? Labor costs are often one of the largest expenses in construction projects. That is due to the skilled nature of the work, which has a high demand for specialized trades. The construction sector's labor costs accounted for around 58 percent of the sector's earnings in the United Kingdom in 2023. In the past years, the size of labor costs as a share of the construction sector rose by more than three percentage points, indicating that labor costs have increased at a faster rate than the overall revenue of the industry.

London was the city in the United Kingdom with the highest costs for constructing a general hospital in 2024. Meanwhile, among cities included in this selection, Leeds was the cheapest one to build that kind of structure. The expenses of such a construction in London were over 500 British pounds higher than in Glasgow. The capital of the UK is the most expensive area for public building construction. Hospital bed numbers still in decline The number of hospital beds in the UK has been declining since 2000. Between 2000 and 2020, figures decreased from 240,144 to 162,723 number of beds. The reduction in hospital beds is, among other reasons, attributed to technical improvements in surgery rooms, patients with mental health problems being treated in different settings, and most importantly, cuts to NHS funding. However, the number of beds increased slightly again in 2021 and 2022. Increased healthcare spend Despite past funding cuts and declining availability of hospital beds, healthcare spending has significantly increased in the past twenty years. In 2022, expenditure reached a peak of nearly 282 billion British pounds, whereas in 2000, this figure amounted to 79 billion British pounds. The value of healthcare expenditure as a share of GDP also increased significantly in the past years.

In 2024, London was still the most expensive UK city for office construction. This was true at least for the cities included in the list, and it applies to prestige and A-Grade offices. Both A-Grade and prestige offices in London were more expensive than any type of office construction in Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, or Leeds. After London, Cambridge and Oxford are also some of the other UK cities with the highest house prices in 2023. Office rents in London Not only did London prove to have high building costs, rents for prime offices were equally high, with the West End core as the most expensive districts in the city. The area to the North of Buckingham Palace is known for its exclusive townhouses largely owned by the foreign elite and upscale hotels and restaurants. Stratford and the rest of the Docklands were the cheapest districts in London. Office investments in the UK In the last quarter of 2023, the value of office investments in London increased slightly in comparison to previous quarters. Investments in the City and Southbank, however, dropped in value. The volume of investment in commercial real estate in the UK fluctuated a lot in the past months, with some years showing high volumes of investment in office real estate, and other months where those values fell rapidly.

In November 2024, the average weekly salary and bonuses of construction workers in the United Kingdom (UK) reached 794 British pounds. This was higher than the salary in the same period of the previous year. The number of construction job vacancies in the UK in that quarter had an even sharper decline.

New York was one of the cities worldwide with the highest construction costs for high rise offices as of the third quarter of 2023. The average price of building a high rise office in London amounted to over 4,700 U.S. dollars per square meter, while the cost for that same type of building in Johannesburg was 700 U.S. dollars per square meter. The cost of multi-unit high rise buildings were also the most expensive in New York.

In 2023, the average cost of building a new rental house in the Netherlands reached 428 euros per cubic meter. Building owner-occupied property was slightly cheaper to construct. The source mentions that the numbers concern an average on granted building permits for newly to be constructed homes with a total construction cost of more than 50,000 euros (excluding taxes over the last 12 months). Permits which combine living areas with holiday homes and/or offices were not counted. Note that no numbers were provided on renovation.

What is the market size of the construction industry in the Netherlands?

As of 2022, the Netherlands had over 254,417 active construction companies. These companies were either active in the construction of buildings or development of building projects, civil engineering or were involved in specialized construction activities. One of the more internationally well-known Dutch construction firms is BAM, which is also active in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany with project deliveries in Denmark, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The revenue of the Royal BAM Group reached a value of 6.3 billion euros in 2023.

How much do you pay for a house in the Netherlands?

Utrecht was one of the provinces in the Netherlands with the highest price for a single-family house. It is also important to look at the different prices in Dutch cities, as they can vary significantly. Residential property in Amsterdam, cities surrounding the Dutch capital (such as Haarlem) or Utrecht sold for much higher prices than a house in, for example, Rotterdam.

In a comparison of selected cities worldwide, New York had the highest costs for the construction of a multi-unit high-rise building in 2023. That year, such a project cost on average 5,000 U.S. dollars per square meter in New York, but just 400 U.S. dollars per square meter in Kuala Lumpur. Sydney, London, San Francisco, and Los Angeles were also among the most expensive cities too.

The Department of Aviation (DoA) and City & County of Denver are jointly undertaking DIA South Terminal Redevelopment project in Colorado, the US.The project involves the construction of mixed-use facilities comprising of leisure, retail, commercial, renovations of the existing terminal.The project is to be developed in two phases:The first phase of the project will include the construction of a 14-story, 519-room Westin hotel, 7,618m2 public plaza, 2,416m2 conference center, commuter transit center and infrastructure facilities. It also includes the construction of a restaurant, gym, a fitness center and an indoor pool.The second phase of the project will include the construction of a new parking structure and renovation of the existing Jeppesen Terminal Great Hall. It will cost about US$650 million.It includes the refurbishment of the existing facilities in the terminal's Great Hall, including a move of security checkpoints of approximately 18 lanes to new locations on the sixth level where airline ticket counters currently reside, addition of more spaces for shops and restaurants, improving building access and passenger flow, developing new check-in areas, and optimizing space and efficiency in the terminal.The cost of its South Terminal redevelopment project first phase was US$650 million; however, later DIA has reduced the estimated cost to US$500 million and then to US$600 million.Gensler Architects, Iron Horse Architects, and AndersonMasonDale Architects have been appointed as the architects, Parsons Transportation Group has been appointed as the program manager, S.A. Miro, appointed as the structural engineer, LPR Construction Co. as the Steel Erector and Canam Group as the Steel Fabricator for the project, Textura Corporation has been appointed as software supply consultant, Burns Group as program manager and DH Glabe & Associates as engineering design consultant a dLerch Bates Inc was appointed as the design consultant to provide elevator, escalator and façade access consulting for the first phase of the project.In August 2010, A Tri-Venture of Mortenson, Hunt, and Saunders was appointed as general contractor for the hotel and Public Transit Center of the redevelopment project while Kiewit Building Group was appointed as the enabling works contract.In October 2012, Denver International Airport has raised funds of US$394 million by selling revenue bonds for the project.On January 29, 2015, DoA issued bids to the five private firms for the development of the second phase of the project with a submission on April 1, 2015. The Five firms namely DEN Transformation Team, Airmall USA, Ferrovial, Westfield and Great Hall Experience Partners.However, DoA received proposals from four teams namely DEN Transformation Team (led by Manchester Airport Group); Westfield Corp; Plenary Group USA; and a team led by Ferrovial Airports for the second phase.In the fourth quarter of 2015, construction activities on the first phase were completed.On June 30, 2016, a consortium led by Ferrovial Airports and supported by the infrastructure investment firm selected as a preferred bidder to enter into exclusive negotiations for a public-private partnership (P3) for the second phase of the project.A consortium Denver Great Hall, LLC comprises of Equity Partners: Ferrovial Airports International Ltd., JLC Loop Capital, Saunders Construction and Magic Johnson Enterprises, Design & Build partners: Ferrovial Agroman and Saunders Construction, Inc., Architects: Luis Vidal + Architects, Harrison Kornberg Architects and Anderson Mason Dale., Local Engineers/Contractors: Intermountain Electric, Civil Technology, Gilmore Construction, Sky Blue Builders and Burgess Services., Equity Partners Legal Advisors: Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher., Financial Advisor: Citibank.On August 29, 2016, the Denver City Council (DCC) gave approval to DoA, to negotiate a long-term contract with the selected bidder for the second phase.On August 15, 2017, DoA secured approvals from DCC for US$1,800 million development agreement with Denver Great Hall, LLC, a consortium led by Ferrovial, for the second phase of the project. In August 2017, Ferrovial awarded as a contractor for US$650 million remodeling and operation for the second phase.The Development Agreement provides for a 34-year term, comprising an anticipated four-year construction period followed by a 30-year operating period, during which the Developer is responsible for developing and managing a revamped concessions program and maintaining associated areas within the Terminal. The Development Agreement also provides for M/WBE goals of 33% for the design work and 18% for the construction work, as well as an ACDBE goal of 26%, which will be updated every ten years.Construction activities were commenced on Jeppesen terminal in July 2018, and expected to complete by 2021. Read More

University College London (UCL) and the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) are undertaking the construction of a campus on 4.63ha of land in London, the UK.The project involves the construction of a 125,000m2 campus on 4.5ha of land. It will be developed in phases.The first phase includes the development of Marshgate 1 and Pool Street West. The first site includes the construction of a 16,500m2 mixed-use facility with 14,500m2 of university residential space in 524 rooms and 5,497m2 of academic space and research labs within the Podium at Pool Street South of the London Aquatics Center. It also includes the construction of Shell and Core and Fit-out.The second site includes a 33,500m2 academic facility at Marshgate 1 South of the ArcelorMittal Orbit with a 9-floor academic block with 2 floors of rooftop plant and a partial basement, double height atrium with escalators.The first phase also includes the construction of 490-bed spaces.The second phase includes the construction of Marshgate Plots 2, 3 and 4; and Pool Street East and this phase will be implemented in 2030.On May 11, 2015, UCL and LLDC appointed LDA Design with a team (Nicholas Hare Architects, BuroHappold, Momentum Transport Planning, EC Harris, Soundings, Studio Weave) as the master planner for the project.On March 3, 2016, UCL and LLDC invited bidders for the design services of the project with a submission deadline of March 30, 2016.UCL and LLDC shortlisted design teams for the first site include BDP; Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios with Buro Happold, LDA Design, iDEA, Soundings; Jestico & Whiles with Buro Happold, Ramboll, Plincke, Quatro; John McAslan & Partners with Buro Happold and Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands with Atelier Ten, AKT II, Kim Wilkie Landscape, PFB Construction Services, London Communications Agency.UCL and LLDC shortlisted design teams for the second site include Grimshaw Architects with Alan Baxter Associates, Mott MacDonald, Land Use Consultants, Social Communications; Hawkins Brown Architects with MVRDV, Buro Happold, DJAO–RAKITINE, Soundings; Mecanoo International with ARUP, Commonplace; Scott Brownrigg with UN STUDIO, Buro Happold, Atelier Ten, Gross Max and Stanton Williams with ARUP, AKT II, VOGT, Soundings.On July 29, 2016, Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands and Stanton Williams were awarded a contract for engineering design services for Pool Street (First site) and Marshgate 1 (Second site), respectively for the first phase of the project.Supporting consultants for the project are as follows:AECOM – Cost management consultantAKT II – Structural engineerAll Clear Designs – Access for disabled people consultantArup – Mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineerBureau Veritas – Construction design and management regulations Atelier 10 – fire and services engineering consultantDeloitte – Planning consultantKim Wilkie – Landscape architectPeople Friendly Design – Accessibility consultantPlan A – Design management and co-ordination consultantSoundings – Community and environmental consultationThe Ecology Consultancy – Ecologist consultantTyrens – Transport consultantVOGT – Landscape and public realm architectWSP – Project managementBuro Happold – Sustainability consultantArcadis – Cost ConsultantIn October 2017, UCL invited bids for the construction works on Marshgate 1.In March 2018, the project received outline planning approval from the LLDC.In March 2018, UCL called up five contractors including Bouygues, Laing O’Rourke, Lendlease, Mace and Sir Robert McAlpine to submit the bid for Marshgate 1. A preferred contractor will be appointed by the third quarter of 2018.UCL has secured US$134 million funding from the Government for the project.Hogan Lovells has been appointed as Legal Advisor and Parsons BrInckerhoff Ltd as the project manager.In third quarter 2018, UCL invited bids for the Design and Build Contract for Pool Street West Student Accommodation and Academic Facilities.Construction works on Pool Street West is scheduled to complete in 2021In August 31, 2018, Mace Group has been appointed as a contractor under pre-construction agreement for Marshgate 1. Work under the pre-construction phase will include an early review of the procurement strategy to ensure completion of the project in 2022.Pre-construction activities are underway and construction works on Marshgate 1 are scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2019. Read More

London West End - Bond Street is the most expensive location for prime high street rents in the UK, with prices reaching 2,250 British pounds per square foot. The West End was ranked ahead of the London City, which came in third. In Manchester, the annual costs of rental per square foot of prime retail real estate amounted to 225 British pounds. Retail warehouses Retail warehouses typically range from fifty thousand to hundreds of thousands of square feet. They are used for keeping and distributing inventory. Retail warehouses include loading docks, truck doors and large parking lots; also, they may contain a limited amount of office space. Prime retail warehouse properties belong to the wider category of industrial property, along with other real estate types, such as distribution buildings, showroom facilities, manufacturing buildings, cold storage facilities, telecom or data hosting centers, "flex" buildings denoting more than one industrial or commercial facility housed in the same building, and finally R&D buildings. Prime yields of high street retail across Europe Retail real estate prime yields in Europe were the lowest in Zurich, Switzerland, and the highest in Istanbul, Turkey in 2022. As could be expected, larger cities in Europe tended to produce lower yields, due to the lower risk associated with these markets. Locations with lower yields tend to have steady occupancy rates and rental growth.

Geneva, Switzerland, was the most expensive city to buy an apartment in Europe in the first quarter of 2024. The square meter price in Geneva was nearly 15,650 euros in that quarter, about 2,000 euros higher than the second city in the ranking, Zurich. Cost of rent Rents across the major cities in Europe increased significantly in 2023. One of the main factors driving high rents across European cities is the same as any other consumer-driven business. If demand outweighs supply, prices will inflate. The drive for high paid professionals to be located centrally in prime locations, mixed with the low levels of available space, high land, and construction costs, all help keep rental prices increasing. Mortgage rates The average mortgage interest rates across Europe in 2023 were all under five percent, except in Czechia, Romania, Hungary, and Poland. On an individual level, a difference of one percent would most likely mean thousands of euros in interest on the mortgage a person is paying, making timing key in house purchasing. Mortgage interest rates tend to be lower in Nordic countries due to the financial stability and reliability of its borrowers. Other factors that influence the mortgage interest rates include inflation, economic growth, monetary policies, the bond market and the overall conditions of the housing market. More stable markets also tend to have higher average prices.

In 2023, land for the development of industrial real estate in some of the most sought after markets in the UK exceeded one million British pounds. In the third quarter of the year, the land value in London ranged between 4.25 million British pounds in East London and 7.75 million British pounds in West London. The Golden Logistics Triangle, referring to the area between Nottingham, Birmingham, and Northampton, had a per acre land value of over one million British pounds. The source points out that land values dipped significantly compared to the previous year.