Yolist booking data + ONS Labour Market Statistics (sample 2026)
UK Trades Shortage Report 2026
Analysis of the growing shortage of skilled tradespeople in England — response times, geographic variation, and the impact on consumers. Based on Yolist booking data and ONS labour market statistics.
Key takeaways
- Average wait for a plumber in London has reached 9 days — up from 6 days in 2023.
- 67% of UK businesses cite skill shortages in their sector as a significant operational constraint.
- Trade vacancies rose 23% between 2023 and 2025, the steepest two-year increase since 2007.
- The South East and East of England show the longest consumer wait times across all trade categories.
- Retrofit trades (heat pumps, solar, EV chargers) account for a disproportionate share of the vacancy growth.
Headline chart
London (plumber wait)9 days
South East (plumber wait)11 days
East of England12 days
North West7 days
Yorkshire & Humber8 days
West Midlands8 days
South West9 days
Methodology
Sample 2026: average wait-time figures derived from Yolist consumer booking requests in the 12 months to February 2026. Skill-shortage figures sourced from the CITB Construction Skills Network report 2026 and ONS Vacancy Survey Q4 2025. Vacancy growth calculated by comparing ONS Workforce Jobs series trade subcategories 2023 vs 2025. All figures clearly marked "sample 2026".
Cite this report
APA-style:
Yolist. (2026). UK Trades Shortage Report 2026. Yolist Research. https://yolist.uk/research/uk-trades-shortage-2026Embed this chart
Paste this iframe snippet into your article — please link back to the source.
<iframe src="https://yolist.uk/research/uk-trades-shortage-2026?embed=1" width="100%" height="520" frameborder="0" title="UK Trades Shortage Report 2026"></iframe>