House builders are being hit by a surge in rates as Help to Buy stokes up activity in the sector.
According to Galliford Try brickies rates have surged 20% in the last six months as the scramble is on for skilled trades. Some now command equivalent salaries of £40,000 or more in the south east.
Labour rates are now hitting concrete contractors where rates for carpenters were previously relatively stable at around £140 a day.
One frame contractor told the Enquirer: “We’ve been looking for carpenters for a job in Gatwick and nobody will do it for £180 a day.
“Labour rates are really on the move but job prices are not reflecting the change.”
The concrete industry has been caught up in inflating house building costs because of the amount of multi-storey residential being built in the capital.
Galliford Try chief executive Greg Fitzgerald said: “We have gone from an environment where if you made a mistake on a job and needed twice as many brickies you would just go and pick them up to a completely different ball game.
“We can see build inflation starting to come through for the first time in four or five years.”