Over 400,000 Britons wait over a year for a builder to start work on their homes - amid crippling construction skills shortage

Hundreds of thousands of householders have waited more than a year to find a builder to work on their homes, the Mail can reveal.

A crippling construction skills shortage means that, since 2021, 415,000 people have spent more than 12 months waiting for work to begin.

A further 301,000 waited a year for plumbers and heating engineers, 294,000 for a roofer and 274,000 for a carpenter.

Fix Radio’s national construction audit found the average wait for a bricklayer over the past three years was more than three months, while customers were made to wait two and a half months for landscapers, painters and decorators.

Industry leaders say the UK’s shortage of tradespeople has been laid bare by delays in completing major projects such as the Co-op Live venue in Manchester.

A crippling construction skills shortage means that, since 2021, 415,000 people have spent more than 12 months waiting for work to begin (file image)

A further 301,000 waited a year for plumbers and heating engineers, 294,000 for a roofer and 274,000 for a carpenter (file image)

Fix Radio’s national construction audit found the average wait for a bricklayer over the past three years was more than three months (file image)

They add that, to keep up with growing demand, the field needs to acquire an extra 225,000 skilled workers by 2027.

The shortage means the UK will miss out on £98billion of economic growth by 2030.

Britain’s skills deficit has been exacerbated by the ageing population of labourers, with a fifth of the construction workforce now over the age of 50.

A third of workers hope to leave the sector by 2030.

The Construction Industry Training Board’s Construction Skills Network estimates that close to one million tradespeople will retire in the next ten years.

Shortages have been eased by migrant labourers in recent years but there is an urgent need to train more British workers.

Last year bricklayers, plasterers, roofers and carpenters were added to the ‘shortage occupation list’ compiled by the Home Office, in an attempt to address the issue.

The Government’s pledge to crack down on ‘Mickey-Mouse’ university degrees and fund 100,000 apprenticeships could alleviate problems in the sector.

Industry leaders say the UK’s shortage of tradespeople has been laid bare by delays in completing major projects such as the Co-op Live venue in Manchester (file image)

Britain’s skills deficit has been exacerbated by the ageing population of labourers, with a fifth of the construction workforce now over the age of 50 (file image)

Building and construction have been major themes in both the Labour and Tory General Election campaigns.

The Labour Party has unveiled plans for the next generation of ‘new towns’, while Rishi Sunak has promised to build hundreds of thousands of homes in Britain’s biggest cities.

Clive Holland of Fix Radio said: ‘We simply need more builders. If political parties, irrespective of their stripe or colour, honestly believe they can address the housing crisis without having the serious conversation of addressing the skills deficit, we’re heading into a very dangerous position.’

Two-thirds of Britons also told Fix Radio that they did not receive enough encouragement to pursue a career in the trade sector while at school.

A further 18 per cent of British parents said they would not want their children to work in the construction industry because they don’t believe they would earn enough money.