Weekly wages across construction in England has increased by an average of 1.7% in October, and demand for workers continues to rise according to the biggest industry payroll company.

Hudson Contract has reported it made 146,700 payments to tradespeople on its books in October which is an increase of 6.6% on September.

Across England, average wages have increased month-on-month by 1.7% to £890 per week, the company said.

However, there were substantial regional variations of pay across the country. The East Midlands saw a rise of 8.9% and the East of England was up by 4%. But London and the South East saw wages fall.

Average weekly earnings across all trades were at their highest in East of England, reaching £987.

While scaffolders average weekly earnings in October were at their highest in London, reaching £913.

Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson, said: “Our clients are telling us they have full order books and that demand for skilled trades continues to outstrip supply.

“Despite doom and gloom predictions from the Construction Leadership Council, our clients say it will be business as usual up to Christmas in spite of the new lockdown.”

He added: “Some clients report the extension of the self-employed support scheme could encourage people to stay at home, but that the vast majority of tradespeople are working and don’t want to be sitting at home on support schemes.

“There is plenty of work around. The Government has committed to a lot of infrastructure spending and new projects are being announced every day.

“Measures such as Help to Buy, the stamp duty holiday and relaxed planning laws are supporting a buoyant housebuilding sector.

“Looking to next year, the end of free movement will cause disruption but countering that is reduced demand in January and February. Construction could struggle as stimulus packages like help to buy and the stamp duty holiday come to an end around March/April.”