House-building in London is being held up by a shortage of bricks, the deputy mayor has said.

At the Chartered Institute of Housing London conference, Ric Blakeway said some developers were facing long waits for bricks.

He said: “We know some developers have a 42-week wait on bricks which compromises choice.

“We look at the quality and type of bricks which are used and it’s somewhat frustrating to know there’s none left.”

This is not the first time that Blakeway has spoken about his frustration in slow delivery of new homes.

Earlier this month, he said that according to City Hall data, there are around 200,000 unbuilt homes which have planning permission – suggesting large-scale landbanking by developers.

He said: “There are indeed some speculators with no intention of building.

“But that’s only a partial explanation. Interrogating those figures further reveals three-quarters of the homes are on large multi-phase developments, often of 500 homes or more, owned by traditional house-builders.

“Starting construction isn’t the problem, it’s accelerating it.”