The finding was revealed by Manpower, whose research is said to have confirmed industry fears of a lack of suitably-trained workers.

Manpower managing director Mark Cahill said he was told the normal £500-a-week pay for bricklayers was being doubled.

The UK government says it is working with firms to “nurture home-grown talent”.

According to Manpower’s research, prospects in the construction industry are at their strongest level since 2007. But one-in three large construction firms in London are said to have decided not to bid for projects because of a lack of skilled workers.

Manpower’s survey of more than 2,000 employers in all sectors suggests larger companies are set to lead a job creation “charge” early next year.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said the shortage of bricklayers must be addressed by an increase in the number of construction apprenticeships.

Chief executive Brian Berry said the Manpower research is “a timely reminder” that government must put the right framework in place to encourage construction employers to train more apprentices.

He said: “Our recent Q3 2014 State of Trade Survey shows that 41 per cent of SME construction firms are struggling to hire bricklayers and this is up from 34 per cent three months earlier. If skills shortages continue to increase at the same rate, it could undermine the surge in private house building.

“To make matters worse, we are still unsure what action government is taking in terms of its apprenticeship funding reforms – an issue which has been rumbling on for more than two years. If the recently appointed Skills Minister Nick Boles implements the apprenticeship funding reforms as proposed, they will greatly detract from the ability and desire of small firms to train apprentices. As two-thirds of all construction apprentices are trained by micro-businesses – the very smallest of firms – this is very worrying indeed.”

Berry added: “The construction and house building industries are emerging from the deepest and longest recession we have ever faced but increasing workloads mean little if we don’t have enough skilled workers to carry out these new projects. Government must therefore make sure employers have every reason to increase the number of apprenticeship places they are offering or the construction industry, and the wider economy, will begin to flounder.”

Construction union UCATT said the skills shortages are a result of 30 years of failure to train apprentices.

In 2013 just 7,280 construction apprentices completed their training across all trades.

Training body Construction Skills have estimated that the industry needs 35,000 new entrants to stand still and this figure will grow as construction recovers from recession.

Steve Murphy, general secretary of UCATT, said: “Skills shortages are a direct result of the industry failing to invest in the future. The entire mind-set of the construction industry is focussed on maximising short-term profits.

“The construction industry goes to great lengths not to employ workers directly and in that environment it is unsurprising that companies are not prepared to invest in apprentices, the workers of the future.”

UCATT said a major step forward to increasing apprentice numbers would be the introduction of strict public procurement rules requiring companies to recruit and train apprentices. Companies that failed to train adequate numbers of apprentices would be barred from bidding for contracts.

The number of construction apprentices being recruited has been falling for decades. Even when the construction industry was booming prior to the recession in 2008 the number of apprenticeships was declining.

Mr Murphy added: “The government is the construction industry’s biggest client. Rather than asking the industry to change its ways and train apprentices they should be forcing them to do so.”