According to the NFRC/Glenigan State of the Roofing Industry survey — which questioned 117 roofing contractors between 8th and 26th of July — the most common areas of shortage continue to be concrete roof tiles, timber battens, insulation, general timber, and clay tiles.

Every single respondent to the survey reported that the price of materials went up in the previous quarter, with some noting price rises as high as 300% on certain products.

In terms of skills shortages, 76% of respondents faced recruitment difficulties in Q2, up from 44% in Q1. 

Almost half (47%) of contractors struggled to find roof slaters and tilers, with 27% finding it hard to find general labourers.

Only 10% of contractors increased their headcount over the past three months.

The shortage of labour is also impacting wage rates, with 58% of firms reporting rising labour costs.

The survey also revealed that 53% of contractors saw an increase in their workloads and 35% experienced a rise in enquiries on the previous quarter.

Scotland registered the highest uptick in both workloads (73%) and enquiries (78%), following a subdued performance in Q1.

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In contrast, Yorkshire and the Humber witnessed a 7% drop in workloads following above-average growth in the previous two quarters, while Wales saw the biggest decline in enquiries (-55%).

Philip Campbell, head of policy at NFRC, said: “It is critical that clients work with their supply chain to provide flexibility in contracts to adjust for these unprecedented increases.

“Workloads are set to continue to rise for the next quarter, and indeed the next year, which is encouraging, but the industry, clients, and government must all focus on addressing the ongoing materials and skills crisis we are experiencing. 

“If we don’t start resolving these issues now, we may see a detrimental impact of the growth we have seen coming out of the pandemic.”

Allan Wilen, economics director at Glenigan, added: “Construction continued to recover during the second quarter, with roofing contractors reporting a strong rise in workloads. 

“Private housing and commercial repair, maintenance and improvement work and new house construction have been the best performing areas.  

“Roofing contractors anticipate further, more broadly based growth over the next 12 months. 

“However, the availability and cost of skilled labour and materials will [put] potential brakes on the pace of the recovery.”