At a Glance
🏗️ 2026 opens with a steady tender flow and a £725bn 10-year infrastructure strategy, against a backdrop of only modest output growth forecasts.
🚆 HS2 moves into intensive delivery on the Old Oak Common–Euston tunnel and Curzon Street bridges, locking in multi-year civils demand.
🌱 A raft of new climate, carbon and permitting rules land from January–February, reshaping risk and compliance for major projects.
🏛️ Building Safety Act enforcement and levy changes from late January sharpen the cost and approval profile for new residential schemes.
💰 Housing sentiment is improving despite weak output data, with residential still expected to dominate a USD 325bn UK construction market in 2026.
Today’s update: the start of 2026 is being defined less by single flagship announcements and more by the cumulative impact of new regulation, long-term infrastructure strategies and early-stage market movements. Delivery teams face a tightening compliance net at the same time as HS2 and energy transition projects deepen the workload, while housing and infrastructure forecasts point to cautious but positive growth. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead today.
Ongoing Stories
🏛️ Following earlier coverage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the Planning and Infrastructure Act now has Royal Assent (Dec 18, 2025) and is set to streamline judicial reviews for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects in 2026, shifting legal risk profiles on major schemes. (Source: PBC Today, Liz Male blog)
🏛️ Returning this week, Building Safety Act implementation tightens again from 27 January 2026, with stronger enforcement and a Building Safety Levy from 1 October reshaping viability and programme assumptions for new residential projects. (Source: Liz Male blog)
🚆 HS2, previously highlighted for its delivery risks, now enters a new phase in 2026 with tunnel boring between Old Oak Common and Euston and completion of the Curzon 2 bridge in Birmingham, cementing multi-year opportunities for heavy civils and systems contractors. (Source: HS2 YouTube update)
🌱 Building on earlier net zero planning moves, Ofgem’s new regulation of heat networks from 27 January and updates to UK ETS free allocation from 1 January increase compliance complexity for energy, district heating and industrial clients. (Source: Osborne Clarke)
Top 5 Headlines
🚆 HS2 ramps up 2026 works as tunnelling moves towards Euston
HS2 reports that 2025 milestones included completion of the Colne Valley viaduct and tunnelling between Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon Street, with 2026 works focused on tunnel boring from Old Oak Common to Euston and completing the Curzon 2 bridge in Birmingham. These stages move the project into some of its most complex urban interfaces, particularly around Euston. For the sector, this locks in demand for specialist tunnelling, rail systems and urban integration skills over the next two years. (Source: HS2 YouTube update)
🌱 Egg Power secures £400m to build 250MW renewables pipeline
Egg Power has landed £400m (US$536m) in financing to develop a 250MW portfolio of UK and European solar and wind projects, including sites already in construction targeting 2026–27 operation. The funding underpins both greenfield development and late-stage build-out, with the UK expected to be a key focus market. This capital injection adds to the utility-scale renewables pipeline at a time when planning reforms are explicitly favouring large schemes over 100MW. (Source: PV Tech)
🚆 Government’s 10‑Year Infrastructure Strategy targets £725bn by 2035
The UK Government’s 10‑Year Infrastructure Strategy sets out around £725bn of planned investment through 2035 across transport, energy and public assets. The strategy encompasses major road, rail, water, energy transition and public estate programmes and is intended to provide a clearer long-term pipeline. For contractors, consultants and investors, this scale of spend underpins medium-term order books but heightens exposure to delivery capacity, skills and regulatory risk. (Source: PBC Today, Gov.uk)
🏛️ 2026 policy reset: Planning, Building Safety and devolution reforms bite
Key frameworks shaping 2026 include the Planning and Infrastructure Act’s streamlined judicial review regime for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, strengthened Building Safety Act enforcement from 27 January and the Building Safety Levy from 1 October. In parallel, the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill entered committee stage on 20 January, signalling potential shifts in local housing and planning powers, while planning reforms advance on embodied carbon, retrofit and large renewables. The combined effect is a more centralised yet complex policy environment that will demand early legal and planning input on major schemes. (Source: Liz Male blog, Circular Online)
💰 Construction output flatlines as forecasts point to modest 2026 growth
Latest ONS data to October 2025 show total construction output down 0.3% year-on-year, with repair and maintenance falling and new work only slightly up, while public new housing output dropped 16.3%. Forecasts for 2026 nonetheless suggest moderate growth, with output expected to rise between 1.1% and 4.5% and new housing up around 4.9%, albeit still below government targets. This divergence between historic data and forward expectations underlines the importance of timing and sector focus in pipeline planning. (Source: ONS, Mordor Intelligence, Gov.uk)
Also in the news
🏗️ The UK tender market remains active, with 12 new tenders worth around £3.47m and five closures reported on 16 January, indicating ongoing early-stage project planning despite macro uncertainty. (Source: Infobric)
🏗️ RICS reports improving post-Budget housing sentiment, with expectations of better sales and prices in 2026 even as London leads recent price falls and mortgage repossessions rise. (Source: CoStar / RICS)
🏗️ Hastoe’s affordable housing scheme in Curdridge, Hampshire, has won a CPRE Best Housing Solution Award, highlighting appetite for design-led rural affordable projects. (Source: RSN)
🌱 New environmental and energy regulations from early 2026 include updated UK ETS rules, revised Environmental Permitting for combustion plants from 28 February and Biodiversity Net Gain exemptions for sites under 0.2ha, with consultation on extending exemptions to some brownfield sites. (Source: Osborne Clarke)
🌱 The Helios Renewable Energy Project Order 2025 has consented a combined solar and battery storage “generating station” in North Yorkshire, adding to a growing pipeline of large-scale solar and storage schemes backed by government’s AR7 support and 45–47GW solar target for 2030. (Source: Slaughter and May, UK Government)
The Daily Build is written for people shaping the UK’s construction and infrastructure pipeline. If this briefing is useful for your next board, bid or investment meeting, consider forwarding it to your wider team.