The first three months of 2021 saw enquiries with local building firms increase at their fastest rate in a decade, fuelling significant difficulties with construction material shortages and price increases.
To put this into perspective, Workloads, enquiries and employment in the building industry all grew in the period January to March 2021, with enquiries growing at their fastest pace in more than 10 years
Activity in all sectors grew, but repair, maintenance and home improvements saw the strongest performance with 55% of builders reporting increased workload. This pushes demand for employment up through the roof, excuse the pun! For example, 38% of builders are struggling to hire bricklayers and 34% are struggling to hire carpenters/joiners. This in turn drives the cost of employing these trades up as well.
All that being said, its not all doom and gloom here. KDB are constantly making strides forward in the industry to inform our suppliers well in advance of demand to keep delivery waiting times down to a minimum. So if you have plans to carry out any home improvements, extensions or layout changes then get in touch sooner rather than later to get your slot booked in the diary. 2021 is filling up fast!
*All figures taken from FMB Survey data*