By City & Finance Reporter for the Daily Mail Published: 16:50 EDT, 1 January 2017 | Updated: 16:50 EDT, 1 January 2017 Britain's need for new homes is being held back by a shortage of skilled workers such as bricklayers and carpenters, experts have warned. They say the crisis threatens a Government promise to provide 200,000 new homes a year by 2020. Demand on building sites is so high that brickies can earn £50,000 a year in some areas. Shortage: Demand on building sites is so high that brickies can earn £50,000 a year in some areas The Federation of Master Builders said 59 per cent of small and medium-sized construction firms were struggling to hire skilled bricklayers, while 55 per cent had trouble finding carpenters and joiners. 'This severe shortage of skilled labour is starting to have a very real effect on the industry's capacity to deliver more homes,' said FMB chief executive Brian Berry. 'A shortage of tradespeople is a major barrier to increasing the delivery of new homes.' John Tutte, chief executive of the housebuilder Redrow, said: 'A drive for more homes must come hand in hand with a drive to recruit workers.' There are also fears that Brexit could cut off a vital supply of manpower from Eastern Europe. But a Government spokesman said: 'We're making sure we have a skilled workforce by investing £2.5billion in apprenticeships by 2020.' Advertisement Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.
The shortage of skilled workers such as carpenters and bricklayers threatens to hold back the UK government ’s plan to build 200,000 new homes by 2020 . Building site cost is increasingly high , with some areas paying bricklayers £ 50,000 per year for their skill set . The Federation of Home Builders has found that 59 % of small- to medium - sized construction companies are struggling to find skilled bricklayers , with 30 % having difficulties in finding joiners and carpenters . The government is attempting to tackle the issue by putting £ 2.5bn into apprenticeships by 2020 . Chief executive of the UK builder Redrow , John Tutte , said : " A drive for more homes must come hand in hand with a drive to recruit workers " .