SO my swing saga ended up around 50% over budget.
It’s not unusual for most projects to come in around 25% above what you’d thought to be paying.
If you’ve ever had a new kitchen, bathroom or extension you’ve probably felt this pecuniary pain.
But I’m not alone with spiralling costs.
Just about every Government project hits a snag. Sometimes a huge one.
The Channel Tunnel was not without its costly problems.
It was privately financed and in 1985 the cost was reckoned to be £2,600m.
Sounds a lot? That ended up just being loose change.
By the time it was finished in 1994 it had cost £4,650m which was 80% over budget and this huge overspend was put down to better safety and security methods along with meeting environmental demands.
But it’s not just this country, Sydney Opera House is now one of the world’s most iconic buildings.
The original estimate in 1957 was around $7m and it was due to stage its first concert on Australia Day, January 26, 1963.
Anyone who turned up that day was sadly disappointed as it finally opened in 1973 – 10 years late and 14 times over budget.
It looks tricky to build ... and was.
There’s talk of Scotland becoming independent, but its government has also been saddled with controversy over its own parliament building at Holyrood.
Money seemed to be no object here. It was scheduled to open in 2001 but held its first debate three years later.
Original estimates were that it would cost no more than £40m. Wrong.
By the time it opened it is believed to have cost around £414m, due mainly to major design changes along the way. Don’t change your mind – it’s going to cost you and you often don’t know how much until the final bill lands on the doormat with a depressing thud.
In 1988 the British taxpayer was warned the Eurofighter project would cost the UK around £7bn.
That was later revised up to £17bn by 1997, up again to £20bn by 2003 and now, according to the National Audit Office, will cost us all about £37bn.
Suddenly my swing starts to look like very good value.
