THE latest RLB Scottish Construction Market Intelligence report reveals building tender prices rose by 0.6% in Q4 2024 compared to the previous quarter, and increased by 3.3% over the year since Q4 2023.
In Q4 2024 RLB’s Edinburgh office secured several new instructions, including being appointed by CRT Property to project manage and provide employers agent services for a light Industrial development in Cowdenbeath. The project encompasses approximately 60,000 square feet, with the design team currently preparing the planning submission package.
Martin McConnell, partner at RLB Scotland, said, “Despite rising input costs, tender prices in Scotland have only marginally increased this quarter. At RLB we are observing significant growth in the industrial sector and anticipate further opportunities as we head into 2025.”
RLB added that ‘no significant breakout’ in tender prices is expected in the UK construction sector even though input costs continue to rise. The RLB weighted average of tender price uplifts, weighted by regional volume of ONS new orders, shows a ‘very slight firming’ of tender price movements at a national level, which RLB said is reflective of recent workload uplift and expectations of upcoming public sector spend.
As of Q4 2024, RLB’s forecast tender price uplift for 2024 is 3.03%, slightly up from the previous quarter’s forecast of 2.97%.
The BCIS Tender Price Index for 2024 is lower at 2.23% than RLB’s national overview, but the indexes correspond more closely next year, before reporting similar numbers from 2026 onwards.
While costs generally remain on an upward curve overall, RLB added that there are clear indications of falls in some producer price levels, in particular for steel and timber products. For fabricated structural steel, the fall is recorded as being almost 7.5%.
