BCIS build cost calculator
Build cost = floor area x the BCIS £/sqm figure rebased to Oldham. Source: Oldham Local Plan Viability Assessment (publication plan) (Aspinall Verdi for Oldham Council, December 2025, Appendix 8). BCIS data last updated 4 Oct 2025, rebased to Oldham (location index 101). 5-year sample. BCIS rates include preliminaries but exclude external works, fees, contingency and VAT.
BCIS rates by region
BCIS sells its £/sqm data by subscription, so we do not republish it from BCIS. Councils testing their local plans print BCIS tables in their viability evidence, rebased to their own area and dated. Each row below is one such public reprint, rebased to the named area, in £ per sqm of gross internal floor area. Figures include preliminaries and exclude external works, fees, contingency and VAT.
| Region (rebased to) | Houses LQ | Houses median | Houses UQ | Flats median | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London (Wandsworth) | 1,663 | 1,882 | 2,150 | 2,181 | Wandsworth, June 2025 |
| South East England (Medway) | 1,439 | 1,628 | 1,860 | 1,886 | Medway, June 2025 |
| South West England (Cotswold) | 1,379 | 1,559 | 1,785 | 1,832 | Cotswold, May 2026 |
| East of England (Castle Point) | 1,453 | 1,696 | 1,911 | - | Castle Point, July 2025 |
| East Midlands (Derbyshire Dales) | 1,438 | 1,686 | 1,888 | 1,838 | Derbyshire Dales, August 2025 |
| West Midlands (Rugby) | 1,467 | 1,728 | 1,937 | 1,997 | Rugby, December 2025 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber (York) | 1,274 | 1,441 | 1,646 | 1,669 | York, June 2025 |
| North West (Oldham) | 1,466 | 1,745 | 1,960 | 1,997 | Oldham, December 2025 |
| North East (Tees Valley) | 1,188 | 1,345 | 1,533 | 1,554 | Tees Valley, December 2024 (published 2025) |
| Wales (Cardiff) | 1,393 | 1,574 | 1,806 | 1,843 | Cardiff, 28 September 2026 |
| Scotland (Cairngorms National Park) | 1,295 | - | 1,421 | - | VOA, 2 October 2024 |
| Northern Ireland | No public BCIS figure found | ||||
Scotland: no public BCIS reprint found. The row shows the low and high ends of the build costs the Valuation Office Agency adopted for Cairngorms National Park sites (October 2024), which it set above the BCIS lower quartile and below the mean for the councils concerned. Samples differ: Castle Point, Derbyshire Dales, Rugby and Oldham use 5-year BCIS samples; Wandsworth, Medway, Cotswold, York and Tees Valley use the 15-year default; Cardiff's study does not say. Rows are not strictly comparable for that reason.
What the BCIS General Building Cost Index measures
The BCIS General Building Cost Index, published by BCIS (part of RICS), tracks the change over time in a contractor's input costs: nationally agreed labour rates, materials prices and plant costs, across all types of building work. It is a cost index, so it does not by itself give a £/sqm rate. It is distinct from a tender price index (such as the BCIS All-in Tender Price Index), which tracks the prices contractors actually tender and moves with market conditions rather than input costs.
How we sourced these rates
For each region we took the most recent council viability study we could download that prints a BCIS £/sqm table rebased to a named area, and read the 'Estate housing, generally' and 'Flats (apartments), generally' rows from the PDF (read 13 November 2026). Each figure carries the study's own BCIS data date. Between dates, escalate with a tender or cost index; the calculator does not apply one.
What to add on top of a BCIS rate
- External works (roads, drainage, landscaping): the studies here add 10 percent (Wandsworth, Cotswold, Rugby), 12 percent for externals and abnormals together (Cardiff) or 15 percent (Oldham). Set your own figure in the calculator.
- Contingency: Wandsworth's study adds 5 percent of construction costs; Castle Point's uses 4 percent on site-specific tests.
- Professional fees, finance and developer return sit outside BCIS; the workbench carries them as separate cost lines.
- Large schemes: York and Castle Point use the lower quartile for 50+ unit builders and the median for smaller ones.
BCIS build cost FAQ
What is the BCIS build cost per sqm in 2026?
BCIS publishes its £/sqm data to subscribers only, but councils reprint it in their local plan viability studies. For "estate housing, generally", the medians we found run from £1,345/sqm rebased to Tees Valley to £1,882/sqm rebased to Wandsworth. The most recent is Cardiff: BCIS figures taken 25 July 2026 give a median of £1,574/sqm for houses and £1,843/sqm for flats (Cardiff LDP Viability Testing, 2026 update (AP2.4), 28 September 2026). These exclude external works, fees, contingency and VAT.
What is the BCIS General Building Cost Index?
The BCIS General Building Cost Index (GBCI) is a cost index published by BCIS, part of RICS. It measures the change over time in a contractor's input costs - nationally agreed labour rates, materials prices and plant costs - across all types of building work. It is a cost index, not a price: it does not itself give a £/sqm rate. Its job is to update or escalate build-cost figures between dates.
Is the General Building Cost Index the same as a tender price index?
No. The General Building Cost Index tracks input costs (labour, materials, plant). A tender price index - such as the BCIS All-in Tender Price Index - tracks the prices contractors actually tender, which move with market conditions, workload and margin. CIL indexation uses the RICS CIL Index (which BCIS calculates from its All-in Tender Price Index) for planning permissions granted on or after 1 January 2020, not the General Building Cost Index.
What is the BCIS index value for 2026?
BCIS publishes its live indices behind a RICS subscription. The one 2026 figure councils publish openly is the RICS CIL Index, which is 400 for planning permissions granted in 2026 (quoted, for example, in Tower Hamlets' Annual CIL Rate Summary 2026). It is calculated by BCIS from the All-in Tender Price Index and is used to index CIL charges, not to price a build.
What do BCIS location indices mean?
BCIS sets its location factors against a UK mean of 100 (BCIS, 'BCIS basics: using location factors in construction', 29 July 2025). Each council printout we use names its own: Wandsworth 126, Kent 109, Derbyshire Dales 103, Cotswold 101, Oldham 101, Rugby 100, York 97, Tees Valley 91. The full table is subscriber-only.