Roofers Pay Nosedives as Demand Dwindles

Average weekly pay for roofers, across all age groups has taken a nosedive this spring, at £844 per week.

This puts rates for self-employed roofers back to levels of pay comparable to those in May 2023 when they were £807 – just £35 less. That means in three years, the rate of pay has increased by just 4.5%

Roofers Pay Nosedives

The Bank of England Inflation Calculator puts inflation during the period at 6.5%, meaning a real-term decrease in weekly wages for the average roofer of -2% over the past three years.

Furthermore, roofers do not fare well compared to the average weekly pay across all other construction trades of £1015.

Hudson’s latest analysis shows average weekly earnings for skilled labour of £1,022 during April, 2.3% higher than the same month last year – another real-term reduction in a year when inflation ran at 3.4%.

Hudson’s Regional Account Manager David Harris said: “Demand for self-employed tradespeople is flatlining, which ties in with what economic forecasters are saying about slowing sales of concrete and steel and reduced appetite for new-build housing, particularly in London.

“Unless the situation in the Middle East is resolved soon, rising fuel costs and reduced availability of chemicals will lead to further increases in material prices which are always quick to go up and slow to come down.”

Average Weekly Wages

Year on year, the best-performing trades in April were plastering (+13.1%), plumbing (+11.5%) and joinery (10.3%).

Average weekly wages in the sub-contracted self-employed roofing sector vary considerably across age groups and regions.

For different age groups of self-employed roofers, the average weekly rates paid are:

Across UK regions, the average three-year weekly rates paid are:

Most UK regions, including London, show a declining trend in average weekly pay rates for roofers, with the exception of the North West and West Midlands where it has increased during April 2026, but this is most likely due to seasonal fluctuations, rather than a long-term trend.

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