London is in the midst of its biggest building boom for 20 years but skills shortages could jeopardise the recovery, surveyors warned today.
A construction market report for the first three months of the year from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) revealed the fastest growth in activity in the capital since the study began in 1994, driven by both private housebuilding and commercial projects.
The upturn is expected to ripple out beyond London but more than a third of respondents to the survey reported skills shortages across many trades, including surveying.
An extra 62,000 workers could be recruited across the construction industry this year, Rics says.
Deloitte Real Estate’s latest crane survey shows the recovery in London’s office development market at a four-year high, with 71 schemes now under construction. Rics chief economist Simon Rubinsohn said: “London is the area which has been the earliest signal of recovery in the wider construction market ... although a lot of labour is being sucked in from surrounding areas.”
