19th February 2026 | Hudson Contract
Subbies weather the storm but dark clouds gather over construction
Subbies’ earnings fell at the start of the new year as bad weather disrupted work on building sites across England and Wales, according to analysis of the industry's largest payroll.
Self-employed tradespeople earned an average of £1,000 per week during January, down 7.7 per cent on December but up 1.5 per cent on the £985 average recorded in January 2025.
External trades such as bricklaying (down 15.9 per cent), scaffolding (15.4 per cent) and demolition (12.9 per cent) were among the hardest hit.
BCIS analysis shows total construction new orders in 2025 were up 12.6 per cent on the previous year, with infrastructure work seeing the strongest growth at 46.8 per cent. However, private housing orders fell by 10.4 per cent, the only sector to experience a decline. A report in the Financial Times revealed that construction starts on homes in London were 94 per cent below target, the lowest figure for any major city in the developed world this century.
Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson Contract, said: “The seasonal dip in earnings for external trades is as predictable as a government U-turn. We expect to see a recovery as the weather improves.
“But there are darker clouds over the sector. Construction firms are being squeezed by a combination of rising finance and insurance costs, higher employer National Insurance and national minimum wage bills, the disruption caused by the Employment Rights Act, the VAT domestic reverse charge, and an ever-growing burden of complex regulation that is making it unaffordable to take on and train new workers.
“The housebuilding sector in particular is like a tanker. If it's allowed to come to a complete stop, it will take even longer to get going again. If something isn’t done now, when the market finally corrects itself there won't be anyone left to build the homes we need.”
| Region | January 2026 Average | Month on Month % Change | Year on Year % Change |
| North East | £816 | -1.8% | 2.0% |
| North West | £890 | -11% | -2.9% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £965 | -8.8% | 4.3% |
| East Midlands | £1,012 | -11.8% | 4.1% |
| West Midlands | £938 | -7.3% | 0.8% |
| Wales | £1,012 | -4.2% | 2.7% |
| East of England | £1,093 | -5.9% | 5.8% |
| London | £1,067 | -5.0% | -4.1% |
| South East | £1,044 | -8.3% | 2.5% |
| South West | £1,024 | -6.9% | -0.1% |
To view our interactive pay trends map click here
Hudson tracks average pay for 17 different trades across 10 regions in England and Wales, supplying labour market statistics to the Bank of England to inform policy decisions on skilled labour demand. Based in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, the company serves a client base of 2,600 construction SMEs, ranging from specialist subcontractors to medium-sized businesses.
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