At a glance
The construction sector’s financial strain is deepening, with thousands of firms in critical distress and fresh administrations across steelwork and modular specialists. (Source: PBC Today)
New government housing and planning reforms aim to unlock 1.5 million homes, but delivery is lagging badly against historic targets and recent completions are at a 10-year low. (Source: Tokio Marine HCC)
Royal Assent for the Planning and Infrastructure Act and parallel planning rule changes mark a major reset of how major projects, housing and infrastructure are consented. (Source: GOV.UK)
Record-low UK energy production in Q3 2025, driven by falling nuclear output, is sharpening focus on renewables build-out and planning barriers to net zero delivery. (Source: UK Government Energy Trends)
Moves towards a single construction regulator and tougher environmental tests signal a higher-compliance, higher-scrutiny operating environment for developers and contractors. (Source: GOV.UK, Osborne Clarke)
Today’s update: systemic pressures across construction finances, energy supply and housing delivery are colliding with one of the most significant rounds of planning and regulatory reform in a decade. Government is promising speed and clarity just as insolvencies rise and net zero deadlines loom. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead today.
Ongoing Stories
Following earlier coverage of planning reform and infrastructure delivery, the newly enacted Planning and Infrastructure Act now sets out concrete tools to cut project delays by up to a year and give councils more control over planning fees. (Source: GOV.UK)
Building on previous reports of planning reforms to boost housing supply, the government’s 1.5 million homes programme is now underpinned by detailed changes to brownfield policy, density near stations and a major expansion of local planning capacity. (Source: GOV.UK)
Returning to the theme of regulatory consolidation after Grenfell, the latest announcement confirms government intent to create a single construction regulator spanning building control, products and high-risk buildings, tightening accountability across supply chains. (Source: GOV.UK)
Previously discussed clean energy planning reforms are now being reinforced with stronger environmental tests and a policy tilt towards retrofit over demolition, raising the bar on embodied carbon management for upcoming schemes. (Source: Osborne Clarke)
Top 5 Headlines
🏗️ Deepening financial distress hits UK construction supply chain
Over 104,000 UK construction firms are now classed as “under pressure”, with 7,361 in critical distress and a growing list of administrations, including steelwork contractor SDM Fabrications affecting around 100 jobs. Offsite players Connect Modular and Hope South West Limited have also ceased trading, resulting in 48 redundancies. The data underlines intensifying counterparty risk across the sector and suggests clients may need to reassess procurement strategies, due diligence and contingency planning. (Source: PBC Today)
🏗️ Housing delivery slumps as Labour targets 1.5m homes
A new sector report notes that just 185,000 homes were completed in 2024 against a 300,000-a-year target, while Q1 2025 home completions fell to a 10-year low. In response, the Labour government has pledged 1.5 million homes over this Parliament, backed by new investment and 300 additional planners to accelerate approvals. The widening gap between ambition and actual build-out will shape land strategies, capacity planning and risk appetites for residential developers and contractors. (Source: Tokio Marine HCC)
🏛️ Planning and Infrastructure Act aims to shave 12 months off major schemes
The Planning and Infrastructure Act received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025, promising faster approvals for nationally significant infrastructure, streamlined processes for reservoir construction and new local powers to set planning fees. It also introduces spatial development strategies intended to align housing and infrastructure more closely at regional scale. For promoters of large transport, water and energy projects, the Act opens opportunities to re-profile programme timelines but will require close reading of secondary regulations as they emerge. (Source: GOV.UK)
🏗️/🌱 Recycled concrete fines poised to cut cement emissions
A 15‑month UK trial led by Holcim UK and funded by the Materials Processing Institute has demonstrated that recycled concrete fines can substitute clinker in cement, significantly reducing associated CO2 emissions. Holcim plans to have a plant operational by late 2026 using the technology at scale. This could reshape specifications and embodied-carbon profiles on major projects, with implications for both material procurement and whole-life carbon assessments. (Source: The Cooldown)
🚆 Spending Review confirms multi‑billion transport funding for regions
The 2025 Spending Review allocates £15.6bn to city region transport settlements for mass transit in areas such as Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and the East Midlands, alongside £10.2bn for rail upgrades including the Transpennine Route and East West Rail, plus £10bn for roads. West Yorkshire’s mass transit scheme has been explicitly reaffirmed within this package. The commitments set up a substantial forward pipeline for civils, rail and systems contractors, while putting delivery capability and planning reform in the spotlight. (Sources: GOV.UK, West Yorkshire Combined Authority)
Also in the news
🏛️ Planning rule changes announced on 16 December 2025 aim to accelerate delivery of 1.5 million homes by encouraging higher densities near train stations, expanding brownfield development and reforming planning fee structures, with an estimated £6.8bn economic boost by 2030. (Source: GOV.UK)
🏗️/🏛️ Government has confirmed plans for a single construction regulator consolidating oversight of building control, construction products and high‑risk buildings to strengthen safety and accountability across the industry. (Source: GOV.UK)
🌱 Amendments linked to the Planning and Infrastructure Act will tighten environmental tests for developers’ Environmental Delivery Plans, promote retrofit over demolition to reduce embodied carbon, and raise the threshold for onshore solar schemes requiring planning consent to 100MW. (Source: Osborne Clarke)
🌱 UK government data show Q3 2025 energy production at a record low, with a 2% year‑on‑year decline driven by a 28% fall in nuclear output to 8.2TWh, while renewables generation rose 10% and solar PV capacity grew 14%, leaving low‑carbon sources at 67.2% of total generation. (Source: UK Government Energy Trends)
🌱 Cross‑party MPs are warning that structural investment and regulatory barriers to the net zero transition are constraining growth, and are calling for action to unlock green energy, transport decarbonisation and construction sector reforms. (Source: BusinessGreen)
The Daily Build is written for people shaping the UK’s construction and infrastructure pipeline, from boardrooms to site offices. If this briefing is useful, consider forwarding it to a colleague who’s planning programmes, bids or investments for 2026–27.