Buyers who have purchased off-plan in affected developments could be left in the lurch. If builders can’t deliver on time, some could be pushed into rental accommodation while they wait, said Ms Jordan. 

What will happen to house prices?

For now, double-digit house price growth will protect housebuilders’ margins, said Mr Francis. In turn, this will protect buyers from having to shoulder the additional costs.

But longer term, if the supply of new homes drops significantly, prices will increase for buyers, said Ms Jordan.

“Materials shortages, the end of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme, and a cooling market suggest that the high water mark for new housing supply has already been and gone,” added Mr Wishart.

Bigger blows ahead

When supply chain problems ease, there will be no increase in building because developers will have been dealt an even bigger blow. The end of the Help to Buy equity loan scheme will coincide with a forecast dip in transactions as the post-pandemic boom fades and interest rates rise. 

Without the scheme, new-build housing construction will fall from 219,000 homes in the 2019-20 tax year, to 190,000 in 2023-24, forecast Mr Wishart. This is a fall of 13pc, and 110,000 short of the Government’s target of 300,000 homes per year by the mid 2020s.

The Government has billed its affordable housing scheme First Homes as the replacement for Help to Buy, but as yet builders have no information on how the logistics of this scheme will work.

“We’re still waiting to see how it will play out in practical terms. It would be helpful to talk about the details, but I don’t have any,” said Ms Jordan.