Property developers estimate extreme heat added an average £213,617 to their costs this summer as projects faced disruption from falling productivity, additional cooling requirements and delays.
Research from Shawbrook found 52% of developers incurred additional costs from temporary cooling measures, while 51% reported lower productivity during periods of extreme heat.
Half experienced technical delays involving building materials and 49% temporarily stopped work on at least one project.
Just 2% of developers surveyed said the summer weather had no negative impact on their projects.
DEVELOPERS BUILD IN MORE TIME
The findings follow the UK’s hottest summer on record, according to provisional figures from the Met Office, and suggest developers are increasingly factoring extreme heat into project planning.
Some 43% plan to extend project completion timelines, with the same proportion intending to introduce additional health and safety protocols for workers during heatwaves.
A further 38% plan to avoid certain phases of construction during peak summer months, while 37% expect to modify site designs to improve natural ventilation and shading.
Developers are also considering longer-term resilience, with 41% planning to invest in climate-resilient building materials or technologies and 36% expecting to allocate more budget to climate-proofing.
‘PRICING IT INTO CONTINGENCIES’
Terry Woodley (main picture), managing director, development finance at Shawbrook, says: “This was an exceptional summer, but an estimated average additional cost of more than £200,000 shows the practical impact prolonged hot weather can have on development projects – affecting day-to-day work, timelines and budgets.
“The bigger picture is housing supply. When projects pause and completion dates slip, that’s homes arriving later in a country that needs more of them. The developers adapting fastest are treating heat like any other project risk – pricing it into contingencies, phasing the heaviest work away from peak summer and building resilience in from the design stage.
“And where costs or timelines do move, the earlier that conversation happens with a lender, the more options stay on the table.”
