If there was one silver lining to the property market’s collapse, it was a fall in house rebuilding costs which provide the basis for home insurance premiums. Now cheaper home insurance looks set to rise as the latest figures show an increase in the average cost of house rebuilding.

However, the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland (SCSI) figures indicate that the increase is marginal, with the reinstatement costs on an average three- bedroom semi-detached house in Dublin rising by just one per cent to €169,575.

The biggest increases for the same rebuilds were recorded in Cork and Limerick where there was a 3 per cent increase on 2013 to €133,570 and €131,385 respectively, while Galway rose by 2 per cent to €129,580.

Dublin remains the most expensive place to rebuild across all the house types. The average cost of rebuilding a four-bedroom detached house rose from €209,804 in 2013 to €212,164, an increase of €20 per sq m, while a two-bedroom house will cost €128,940 to rebuild compared with €128,030 last year.

It’s worth noting, however, that rebuild costs still remain on average 21 per cent lower than they were at the market’s peak in 2008.

According to Micheal O’Connor, president of the SCSI: “The marginal increase in house rebuilding costs reflects slightly higher input prices for construction materials and labour costs. The key for homeowners is to check that their house rebuilding costs are adequate and fully in line with current figures. By doing so, they could potentially avoid either overpaying or underpaying on their home insurance premiums.”

The 2014 House Rebuilding Cost Guide can be downloaded from scsi.ie, where there’s also a handy online calculator.