Rebuilding a house in Waterford increased in expense over the past year despite the slowdown in the construction sector, according to a surveyed published by the Society of Chartered Surveyors (SCS).
On average, the average costs of rebuilding a home in Waterford city and its environs rose by 3.63 per cent, higher than Limerick (3.56), Galway (3.40) and Dublin (2.48) but lower than Cork (3.84).
Released on Friday last, the SCS survey suggests that the cost of rebuilding a detached bungalow in Waterford city and environs rose by 3.73 per cent, marginally lower than Limerick (3.75) and Cork (3.97).
Costs rose for similar properties in Dublin and Galway by 2.77 and 3.48 per cent respectively. This type of property proved the most expensive to rebuild in Ireland over the past year.
The SCS warned that despite the “minimal” increases, homes must be properly valued for building insurance.
“We are pleased to find that costs in rebuilding homes have not risen too much again for the fourth consecutive year and are actually running a little lower than general inflation this year,” said SCS president Sean McCormack.
“However, we must bear in mind that costs are still rising and if home owners don’t make the necessary adjustments to their building insurance policies, then they may not have adequate cover”.
Rebuilding a detached bungalow in Waterford, the survey revealed, would set you back €1,420 per square metre – €132 per square foot.
Sean McCormack added that adequate cover was extremely important. “Under-insuring can, sadly, in the unfortunate event of a claim, lead to a large gap between what is paid out by the insurance company and the actual costs of rebuilding the home,” he said.
“Insuring it for too much, on the other hand, leads to unnecessarily high premiums.”
He added: “The selling price of a property on the open market is sometimes thought to be the value for which it should be insured. This is irrelevant as generally the property’s market value bears little relationship to its reinstatement value, the cost of rebuilding it.”
The SCS 2008 Guide to House Rebuilding Insurance is available free by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the Society of Chartered Surveyors at 5, Wilton Place, Dublin 2 or online at www.scs.ie
