A critical shortage of skilled construction workers in London is significantly hampering housebuilding and contributing directly to the capital's deepening housing crisis, new polling data has exposed.
Poll Reveals Extreme Delays for Londoners
The findings from Fix Radio's 2025 National Construction Audit, obtained by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, paint a stark picture of the daily reality for residents. The survey shows that more than one in ten Londoners have been forced to wait for over a year to secure a handyman or electrician.
Other statistics from the audit are equally alarming. It found that fewer than five per cent of residents managed to get a roofer within a month, while just three per cent could secure a bricklayer in the same timeframe.
Direct Impact on Homebuyers and New Builds
The knock-on effect for the property market is severe. According to the poll, 13 per cent of respondents delayed moving into a planned new home because construction overran due to a lack of available tradespeople.
An identical proportion opted to purchase an older property instead of a new build after being warned that the completion time would be significantly longer than originally scheduled. Furthermore, a tenth of prospective buyers had to withdraw from a purchase entirely because building delays caused their mortgage offer to expire.
Causes and Calls for Action
Clive Holland of Fix Radio told the LDRS that demand for skilled work consistently outstrips supply, a gap that is widening. He cited daily charges, high operating costs, tool theft risks, and safety concerns as key reasons tradespeople are leaving London for areas like the Midlands or Bristol.
"The shortage of skilled trades in London is having a noticeable impact on the pace of building, repairs and maintenance across the capital," Holland stated.
He warned that rushed training schemes are affecting quality, leading to a rise in snagging work. Holland called on Mayor Sadiq Khan to make it more viable for tradespeople to operate in the city by scrapping ULEZ and congestion charges for them and strengthening enforcement against tool theft.
The Mayor faces a formidable challenge. Ministers have tasked him with ensuring 88,000 homes are built in London annually for the next decade, yet just 11,600 new properties were completed last year. In September, Deputy Mayor for Housing Tom Copley admitted there was a skills "crisis," expressing concern over a lack of both trained workers and teachers for the next generation.
A Government spokesperson acknowledged "years of underinvestment in skills" and pointed to their Plan for Change, which includes £625 million in funding aimed at creating up to 60,000 more engineers, bricklayers, electricians, and joiners by 2029.
As Holland concluded, supporting the trades workforce is not just about numbers: "London's housing challenge isn't only about the number of homes, it's also about having the right workforce in place to build and maintain them."
