26th June 2026 | Hudson Contract
Construction pay increased last month as firms relied on highly skilled – and higher earning – tradespeople at the expense of younger, less experienced operatives, according to Hudson Contract.
The industry’s biggest payer of subcontractors said average weekly pay was £1,071 during May, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. Month-on-month, earnings rose by 4.8 per cent against April.
Commenting on the figures, managing director Ian Anfield said: “These figures don’t mean everyone’s getting a pay rise.
“What we’re seeing is highly skilled tradespeople holding their rates while younger, less experienced operatives lose out on work altogether. When that happens, the average goes up but it’s hard for the improvers who aren’t getting a look-in.
“We’ve seen this before. After the 2008 financial crisis, when demand plummeted, firms kept their best and highest-paid tradespeople and shed the rest. The average went up but the workforce shrank.”
Hudson serves a national client base of 2,600 construction SMEs, ranging from specialist subcontractors to medium and large-sized businesses.
Commenting on the wider sector, Ian added: “The housebuilder Vistry has launched a voluntary redundancy consultation with employees, Crest Nicholson has issued a profit warning and JP Morgan has cut its 2027 earnings estimates for UK housebuilders by an average of 20 per cent.
“These are the clearest indicators of the state of the current new-build housing market. And because new housing funds infrastructure work, unless something changes rapidly in the economy, we can’t see any reason to think that pay rates will improve in the short term.
“Political uncertainty within the Labour Party is not helping. Neither Keir Starmer nor Andy Burnham seems willing to accept that the national insurance rise was a mistake, that the national minimum wage increases were too much, or that housebuilding needs a stimulus such as a stamp duty holiday to counter inflation and borrowing costs that put home ownership out of touch of young working people.”
| Region | May 2026 Average | Month on Month % Change | Year on Year % Change |
| North East | £863 | -2.5% | 19.9% |
| North West | £1,002 | 7.4% | 8.9% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £1,059 | 6.6% | 4.7% |
| East Midlands | £1,055 | 2.8% | -1.0% |
| West Midlands | £1,014 | 3.0% | 10.8% |
| Wales | £1,226 | 8.4% | 8.6% |
| East of England | £1,150 | 4.2% | 7.5% |
| London | £1,108 | 4.5% | 5.5% |
| South East | £1,119 | 4.9% | 5.9% |
| South West | £1,050 | 4.9% | -5.3% |
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.
The biggest monthly risers during May were joinery (up 11.6 per cent to £1,224 per week), electrical (up 9.7 per cent to £1,307) and insulation (up 9.2 per cent to £1,170).
The company serves a national client base of 2,600 construction SMEs, ranging from specialist subcontractors to medium and large-sized businesses.
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