Cost
An effective way to work out how much you’re likely to pay for a new home in Brisbane is to calculate total cost based on the number of bedrooms. According to an article published in November 2024 by Realestate.com, building a two-bedroom house in Brisbane will cost between $336,000 and $594,000.
As a comparison, the cost to construct our Turnkey Package 2-bedroom Mila modular home is $149,900.
Further evidence of the affordability of Urban Cribs modular homes comes from the same article, which states that “a three-bedroom house in Brisbane should cost anywhere from $490,000 to $866,250.”
In comparison to this, the cost to construct our Turnkey Package 3-bedroom Valencia modular home is $286,900.
Table 1: Pricing comparison – standard construction vs Urban Cribs
Additional cost savings can be made for those looking to go with a smaller 1-bedroom or studio home. For first homebuyers looking to get into the market, those looking to downsize, or those just wanting to live a minimalistic lifestyle, our Zed modular home and The Urban Crib are great choices that can’t be beaten on price.
It is also worth noting that all of our Turnkey Package homes are eligible for the First Home Owners Grant of $30,000 making our homes even more affordable for those getting into the market for the first time.
Time
Another important factor when building a house is the the timeline, which is one of the biggest worries for many clients. Standard construction builders often have long wait lists, with their average construction time being 6-12 months. With standard construction on-site factors such as inclement weather, as well as supply chain issues and labour availabilities often cause hefty delays, causing the timeline of the project to blow out.
Modular construction removes many of these risks by manufacturing in a controlled environment. With Urban Cribs, your Turnkey home can be move-in ready in as little as 4 months. Another benefit of modular is that there are barely any on-site disruptions to neighbours. Our single module homes often only take 1 week of on-site work for installation, meaning that you and your neighbours will barely even know we’re there.
Upgrades
The pricing that project builders generally advertise for their homes includes only bare minimum inclusions. Their base price generally allows for a perfectly flat block, with perfect soil makeup and perfect site access, which is barely ever a reality. Builders often charge heavily to upgrade your concrete slab based on the soil classification of your site. Additionally, items such as steel framing, skip bins, safety fencing, and scaffolding, are not included in the advertised price.
The bushfire attack level (BAL) of your site is also an important consideration in the price of your home. The BAL rating is the Australian standard for measuring the risk of a home’s exposure to ember attack, radiant heat and direct flame contact. Note: even if your home is in a suburban area, it may still be classed as a bushfire prone area if there is bushland nearby. The BAL rating of your site determines the construction and building requirements necessary to protect your home from a bushfire. Therefore, when your site is classed as bushfire prone and given a high BAL rating, extra steps are required in the construction of your home, therefore heavily impacting the price.
With Urban Cribs, all of our homes achieve BAL 12.5 as standard, and minimal cost increases are incurred when upgrading our homes all the way to BAL 40.
The lack of on-site work that is required for modular construction means that our homes are perfect for sloped blocks, unlike standard construction homes, no site cut or retaining is required.
All of these factors, many of which are forced by project builders contributes to tens, or hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of upgrades when building a standard construction home.
At Urban Cribs we pride ourselves on providing transparent pricing that reflects the realistic final cost of your project.
Conclusion
Overall, Urban Cribs provides a housing solution that is more affordable and efficient than standard construction homes, with less hidden costs, creating a more enjoyable new home experience for our clients.
