HELM Construction Solutions LLC’s Post

IN THE NEWS...VermontBiz Magazine recently featured an interview with HELM Construction Solutions LLC's Mel Baiser and Kate Stephenson in their recent article "Vermont’s contractors are busy but many constrained by workforce and cost increases". One excerpt: Baiser and their co-founder at HELM Construction Solutions, Kate Stephenson, said they, too, have felt the brunt of increased labor costs as well as the rising cost of materials. Their company currently provides remote services to nearly 80 contractors, design-builders and architecture firms across the U.S. and Canada. “We have witnessed overall costs increase by anywhere from 20% to 30% compared to pre-COVID times,“ they wrote in an email. “The reality of labor and material costs relative to the ability of homeowners to afford repairs, maintenance and improvements is a challenge. “While lead times may still be longer than pre-COVID times,“ they added, “builders with good project management systems in place are able to plan ahead and better manage expectations around these aspects that are out of their control.“ In Baiser and Stephenson’s experience, costs “are not necessarily inflated but are certainly not affordable to the majority of our population.“ “This discrepancy cannot necessarily be solved by architects and builders. It requires solutions on community, state, and federal levels,“ they wrote. “Housing is too expensive for most of the population to afford, so ’market rate’ for well-built construction doesn’t match ’market rate’ for most buyers.“ Read more at https://lnkd.in/e779thHj #homesforall #workforcedevelopment #constructionjobs #HousingAffordability #ConstructionCosts

The UK construction sector is growing more complicated, with changes to government funding, campaign promises, rising materials costs and more. If you're struggling to make sense of everything, or are wondering which sectors look hopeful we've got the answers for you in our latest blog post. We've summarised some of the largest trends affecting the industry and what that might mean for you going forward as either a client of ours or as a candidate. Our key takeaways are: All industries have mixed growth indicators especially compared to last year. ☑ Office Space is expanding as tenants move within and outside London, continuing a trend we saw before the pandemic. ☑ Housebuilding is especially mixed as larger projects are being paused as interest rates for prospective homeowners remain high. ☑ Civils looks strong overall with multiple new projects endorsed by the government. The effect of HS2 is not yet fully understood as plans are still pliable. For a more in-depth look into each sector, read our article below. https://lnkd.in/etmWexVu #constructionindustry #constructionrecruitment #contructionmarketanalysis #construction #Housebuilding #civil engineering #recruitment

Sharing the latest insights into the construction industry outlook!

Persistent construction and permitting delays along with additional project requirements being imposed by local governments have put a damper on apartment development, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council’s quarterly construction survey of members in June. The survey also showed that 17% of respondents reported construction labor to be less available than three months ago, up from 10% in March. The results mostly are a continuation of what has plagued developers in the past year but with varying degrees. During the past three months, 90% of respondents reported experiencing construction delays reversing a recent downward trend (79% in March, down from 84% in December and 90% in September). Respondents experiencing delayed starts were again most likely to cite project infeasibility (62% of respondents, up from 49% last quarter), along with access to construction financing (62% of respondents, up from 40% last quarter), as a cause. Other hindrances included permitting, entitlement, and professional services (57%) as well as economic uncertainty (52%), both elevated from last quarter, according to the report. To view the full article, check out the following link: https://lnkd.in/eX2uA2kR

The housing shortage is real and will continue to increase as we navigate this temporary downturn in single-family construction starts. As Jordan Rappaport, a senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, states in this report, "When single-family construction begins to rebound, supply constraints are likely to slow its climb to its predicted long-term rate. Shortages of workers, construction materials, and ready-to-build lots are all likely to constrain the growth of single-family construction in the short term. Proportionately scaling up employment to match the predicted increase in single-family construction to 1.4 million units per year would require developers to hire 1 million more construction workers than were employed in mid-2022." Rappaport also states that, once single-family construction ramps up again, it will remain strong for many years, making an even stronger case for offsite construction as the availability of experienced construction workers continues to decline and the demand increases exponentially. https://lnkd.in/gNCHjPZH

YEAR-TO-DATE summary for new construction building permit numbers in St. Charles County through MARCH 2024. This update provides a breakdown of Single-Family (detached and attached), Multi-Family and New Commercial permits per community and the County overall. Below is a snapshot and summary which shows a year-to-date comparison between 2024 and 2023: Summary: The first quarter of 2024 shows single-family permits to be 86 homes ahead of 2023 (351 versus 265) which is a 32% increase. For the third consecutive month there were no multi-family permits reported, so the difference to 2023 is now minus 354 units (0 versus 354). Again, the combined residential permit total decrease of 268 units is entirely due to the lack of multi-family so far this year (351 versus 619) or a difference of about 43%. Comparison between municipalities shows Wentzville continuing to lead with 79 permits, followed closely by O’Fallon at 77, then City of St. Charles with 63, Cottleville at 48, Unincorporated with 34, Lake St. Louis at 17, St. Peters and Dardenne Prairie tied with 14, and St. Paul at 5. The New Commercial category continues to be 2 more than last YTD (13 versus 11) or an 18% increase. Overall, the number of permits for both Single Family residential and commercial construction continue to be slightly ahead this year when compared to 2023. However, the multi-family segment is still nonexistent three months into 2024. Click here for permit: https://lnkd.in/g9ayfg-S

Further to my update last week on the construction industry and its impact on residential housing, I thought this might be a relevant follow up... https://lnkd.in/gzcasEju

YEAR-TO-DATE summary for new construction building permit numbers in St. Charles County through JULY 2023. This provides a breakdown of Single-Family (detached and attached), Multi-Family and New Commercial permits per community and the County overall. Below is a snapshot and summary which shows a year-to-date comparison between 2023 and 2022: Summary: While the difference continues to narrow a bit, the overall combined residential permit number for 2023 is still behind last year. Current totals show 1285 residential units which is 259 units behind 2022 YTD (1285 versus 1546) or about a 17% difference. It was 20% off last month. Single-family permits are a total of 10 units off 2022 numbers through July (841 versus 851) which is about 1% behind. Multi-family permits gained slightly on 2022 numbers and are now 251 units off the YTD pace (444 versus 695) for a difference of 36%. It was 42% off last month. The City of O’Fallon continues to lead the single-family segment with 188 permits, followed by St. Charles City at 162, Wentzville at 152, then Unincorporated at 148, Dardenne Prairie at 59, Cottleville at 41, Lake St. Louis at 40, St. Peters at 31, and St. Paul at 20. In the multi-family segment, St. Peters continues to lead with 162 units, followed by Lake St. Louis at 148, O’Fallon at 104, and Dardenne Prairie with 30 units. July saw a significant decrease in New Commercial permits compared to last year and we are now 28 projects behind (31 versus 59) for a 47% decrease. Even with that difference, it is still worth noting that the project scope and cost continues to be significantly higher in 2023 ($175.29M versus $97.29M). Overall, the number of permits for both residential and commercial construction continues to be down this year when compared to 2022 YTD, although the residential gap closed slightly again this month. Click here for full report: https://lnkd.in/en8CWi7Q

🏘 Construction for 2024 already directed heavily in housing work... This year the construction industry has already seen an increased output of 1.1 percent, a value of £15.42bn compared with £15.25bn! 🔖 Whilst in December 2023 it looked as though it was going to be a slow start to the year due to the recession, the construction sector - most specifically the housing industry, has seen a huge kickstart. 🔨 Repair and maintenance in the housing sector was also up, by 0.47 per cent - which hopefully suggests that some specific focus is turning on to the important issues that were reported last year, most predominantly damp & mould. Does my network think work like this will continue to dominate construction into the coming months? #constructionindustry #constructionjobs #recruitmentconsultant

YEAR-TO-DATE summary for new construction building permit numbers in St. Charles County through JUNE 2023. This provides a breakdown of Single-Family (detached and attached), Multi-Family and New Commercial permits per community and the County overall. Below is a snapshot and summary which shows a year-to-date comparison between 2023 and 2022: Summary: The overall combined residential permit pace for 2023 continues to be off last year, however the difference closed a bit last month. With a total of 1114 residential units we are now 287 units behind 2022 YTD (1114 versus 1401) or about a 20% difference. It was 28% off last month. Single-family permits picked up slightly and now are just ever slightly ahead of 2022 numbers. Totals to date show an increase of 4 permits (710 versus 706) which is just over a 0.5% addition. Multi-family permits continue behind 2022 numbers and are now 291 units off the YTD pace (404 versus 695) for a difference of nearly 42%. The City of O’Fallon continues to lead the single-family segment with 170 permits, followed by St. Charles City and Wentzville which are tied at 134, then Unincorporated at 127, Dardenne Prairie at 54, St. Peters at 28, Lake St. Louis at 27, and Cottleville at 21. In the multi-family segment, St. Peters continues to lead with 162 units, followed by Lake St. Louis at 132, O’Fallon at 80, and Dardenne Prairie with 30 units. New Commercial permits have slipped off last year’s pace for this first time in 2023, with 27 projects to this point compared to 29 YTD in 2022, or about a 7% decrease. Again, the project scope and cost continues to be significantly higher in 2023 ($165.16M versus $80.44M). Overall, the number of permits for both residential and commercial construction continues to be down this year when compared to 2022 YTD, although the single family market has passed last year’s pace for the first time this year. Click below for full report: https://lnkd.in/gUvvU5VS