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Builders wages rocket as skills shortages restrict UK construction

The Q4 2015 UK Construction Market Survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has found that property industry pay packets are on the rise thanks to labour shortages.

The construction skills shortage pushed industry wages up by more than 6% in 2015 and some 61% of property professionals report that sector wages are continuing to rise, which is now the biggest barrier to growth in the UK construction sector.

Construction skills shortages are pushing wages in the sector far above the national average, but could also put at risk some of the Government’s biggest housing and infrastructure programmes says RICS.

Labour shortages were reported by 66% of construction professionals to be the most significant barrier to growth in the last quarter of 2015. Bricklayers and quantity surveyors are reported to be in particularly short supply, with 62% and 60% of survey respondents having difficulty finding these workers.

RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn said: “While workloads are still growing at a relatively healthy pace, labour shortages in the construction sector are causing delays at different stages in the development process and leading to significant problems with project planning. More than 60% of our survey respondents said that these resulting planning delays were an impediment to growth.”

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