Monthly benchmarking from professional services firm, Hudson Contract, shows annual earnings are up by 4.8% year-on-year nationwide
Labour rates for self-employed tradespeople have hit new heights, reaching nationwide averages of £1048 per week – a promising end to a strong year which has seen back-to-back monthly wage increases.
This is according to monthly benchmarking, carried out throughout 2024 by Hudson Contract, a professional services firm that provides labour to construction sites. The news is a positive development in a year that began strongly before suffering something of a drop in April. Since then, weekly pay has increased almost across the board.
While London has recorded the strongest month-on-month growth – up by 4.9%, to £1147 per week – self-employed tradespeople in Wales are performing exceptionally well, having experienced 4.4% growth on the previous month, with earnings of up to £1208 per week.
This translates into year-on-year wage growth of 16% for tradespeople in Wales, followed by 10.7% YoY growth for those in the South West and 9.8% YoY growth in London.
Weekly earnings on the climb for key trades
Of these self-employed operators, those working in the “insulation, shop fitting, and steel and timber frame erection” trades had recorded the greatest increase in earnings so far in 2024.
Hudson Contract monitors pay levels for tradespeople across 17 different trades and 10 regions covering England and Wales. It supplies these statistics to the Bank of England as part of its work, and claims to offer “the most accurate indication of trade pay trends across the sector”.
The firm also has an interactive map on its website which displays the average weekly pay (calculated as a 36-month average) for each region it monitors, as well as offering a breakdown by trade and age group. You can explore the latest data here.
“Resilient” housing market driving demand for skilled labour
Commenting on the latest figures, Hudson Contract’s managing director, Ian Anfield, noted that tradespeople weren’t just benefiting from higher weekly average wages – some of these self-employed operators also received more payments from their clients, too.
“Alongside these rate increases, we are also seeing increases in the number of payments made to operatives by some of our clients”, Anfield said.
Despite the positive figures, however, Anfield also suggested that the construction industry has been left with “a mixed bag” this year, blaming the combination of the general election and autumn budget, both of which have left the sector “waiting for the promises of planning reform and infrastructure investment to come to fruition”.
However, he also struck a positive chord, noting that “the housing market has proven more resilient than expected”, which is contributing to increased demand for tradespeople.
This is likely to continue, particularly as the government plans to introduce “policies [that are] aimed at increasing the supply of new housing”, with a target to deliver 1.5m homes in the next five years, Anfield concluded.
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