A MAJOR shortage of bricklayers and construction materials in Oxfordshire has been blamed for delays to a city housebuilding scheme.

Oxford City Council said its £11m programme to build 113 homes, due to be finished yesterday, was set to miss the deadline by three months.

The delayed schemes include 49 flats for older people off Mill Lane in Marston and 48 homes at Minchery Farm in Littlemore.

City council executive member for housing Scott Seamons said a shortage of skilled workers and materials was behind the setback.

His comments came as Kidlington construction college ACE Training said it had seen a surge in applicants for its bricklaying courses.

Mr Seamons said: “The construction industry struggled to respond to a significant increase in demand for construction markets following the economic downturn.

“This has led to a slippage in not only our housebuilding programme but others across the country.”

Barry Courtenay-Crane, training director at ACE Training, said the college’s bricklaying course was “the busiest it has been since I joined in 2007” because of the skills shortage.

He said that rates paid to bricklayers had doubled since the recession to between £180 and £200 per day.

Mr Courtenay-Crane said: “There is a massive shortage of bricklayers in Oxfordshire and it is a big problem because there are a lot of major building projects in Oxford, Bicester and Didcot at the moment.

“There is a myth that construction is a last-ditch career, but it is actually a fantastic opportunity and a great career.

“At the moment our bricklaying course is proving very successful because bricklayers are in such demand.”

Michael Pullick, managing director of Kidlington-based developer Kingerlee, said the materials and skills shortage was “endemic” in the industry.

He added: “It has been propagated by a massive increase in building activity.”

The council is working with developers EC Harris and Leadbitter-Bouygues Group on its housebuilding scheme and has also received £2.4m funding from the Homes and Communities Agency.

It has committed to building three houses in Leiden Road, three houses in Cardinal Close, 10 flats on the former site of the Bury Knowle depot in Headington, 48 flats in Priory Road at Minchery Farm and 49 flats at Bradlands, off Mill Lane in Old Marston.

The first three affordable homes to be completed in Leiden Road were handed over to new tenants in February and properties in Cardinal Close have also been completed, the council said.