GDV.calculator

East of England GDV Calculator and BCIS Build Cost

East of England build cost 1,453 to 1,911 £/sqm (BCIS estate housing quartiles rebased to Castle Point, July 2025). GDV 380 to 640 £/sqft. Cambridge growth corridor lifts mid; Norwich and Chelmsford anchor the floor.

BCIS build cost per sqm

  • Estate housing, lower quartile: 1,453 £/sqm
  • Estate housing, median: 1,696 £/sqm
  • Estate housing, upper quartile: 1,911 £/sqm

BCIS figures rebased to Castle Point, as reprinted in Castle Point Plan Viability Study, Final Report (Porter Planning Economics for Castle Point Borough Council, July 2025, Table 5.6 and workshop slide 20). BCIS rebased to Castle Point at 3Q 2024. 5-year sample. BCIS rates are gross internal floor area, include preliminaries and exclude external works, fees, contingency and VAT. BCIS itself is subscription-only; this is the most recent public reprint we found for the region.

GDV working band

Resale GDV 380 to 640 £/sqft (low to high). Mid 470 £/sqft. Sense-check against current Land Registry Price Paid postcode-area aggregates before committing a bid.

Cambridge growth corridor lifts the mid band; Norwich and Chelmsford anchor the low band.

Cambridge growth corridor uplift

  • Cambridge South, Trumpington, Northstowe and Waterbeach carry a 10 to 25 percent GDV premium versus the regional mid.
  • Cambridgeshire CIL and the Cambridge Investment Plan stack costs on a typical scheme.

CIL across East councils

  • Cambridge, Huntingdonshire, South Cambridgeshire and Essex boroughs operate CIL.
  • Indicative rates run £100 to £250/sqm on Greenfield sites.

Open the workbench with these rates

Inputs
MAX LAND BID£1,125,153At 20% profit on cost, 9 units, 950 sqft GIA each.
MARGINAL
GDV£3,415,725
Build cost£1,347,168
Prof fees£161,660
s106/CIL/BNG£108,000
Contingency£121,262
Finance interest£123,839
Target profit£372,386
Total costs (excl land)£1,861,929
Senior debt @ LTGDV£2,220,221
PoC14.3%
PoGDV12.5%
LTC74.3%
Sensitivity (PoC %)
Build -5%Build +5%Build +10%Build +15%Build +20%
GDV -15%16%17%17%18%19%
GDV -10%15%16%17%17%18%
GDV -5%14%15%16%16%17%
GDV 0%14%15%15%16%16%
GDV +5%13%14%15%15%16%

Cells show profit-on-cost percentage at each GDV stress / build-cost shock pair. Cells below your target PoC turn amber-warm; cells below 10 percent abort.

BCIS (RICS Building Cost Information Service) £/m² study data· Subscription data. Regional £/sqm figures on this site are BCIS figures as reprinted in named council viability studies (BCIS data dated Nov 2024 to Jul 2026), each linked where it is usedAppraisal model reviewed by Oliver Wakefield-Smith (data integrity) with chartered-surveyor (MRICS) and CTA tax review. No affiliate links.