At a Glance
💰 Lower borrowing costs and improving PMI data are feeding cautious optimism for UK construction in 2026, even as delivery risks remain.
🏛️ Consultations on National Planning Policy Framework reforms and the Building Safety Levy are now a critical focus ahead of October 2026 implementation.
🚆 A new wave of major programmes – RIS3 roads, Network Rail CP7, AMP8 water and top-100 schemes worth £39bn – is moving into active delivery this year.
🌱 Ofgem’s late-February energy price cap decision and the £1bn Local Power Plan are set to shape near-term investment in energy efficiency and local renewables.
🏗️ Housing-led planning reforms, including Section 106 changes and grey belt policies, are pushing up applications, with 335,000 new-home applications outside London in 2025.
Today’s update: the story shifts from announcements to execution as 2026’s big programmes in roads, rail and water start to mobilise just as planning and building safety reforms move into consultation and implementation. Housing delivery, energy costs and regulatory change are increasingly intertwined in shaping the sector’s risk and opportunity profile. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead today.
Ongoing Stories
Following earlier coverage of infrastructure delivery risks, 2026 now brings concrete timelines for Road Investment Strategy 3, Network Rail CP7 and AMP8, sharpening the focus on how skills and productivity constraints will affect these multi‑billion pound pipelines. (Source: PBC Today)
Building on previous updates on planning and infrastructure reform, the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is now in force with streamlined judicial challenge processes, making the current NPPF consultation phase critical for promoters of NSIPs and large housing schemes. (Source: Gowling WLG)
Returning to the theme of building safety regulation, the proposed October 2026 Building Safety Levy and potential exemptions for smaller and medium-sized sites add new cost and viability variables for residential developers already adapting to Gateway processes. (Source: PBC Today)
Continuing our focus on energy affordability and infrastructure, the forthcoming April–June 2026 price cap decision and £150 bill reduction pledge are now directly informing retrofit, heat and local power investment decisions across housing and public estate portfolios. (Source: Uswitch)
Top 5 Headlines
🏗️ UK construction market enters 2026 with cautious optimism
Industry analysis points to “better days” for UK construction in 2026, underpinned by lower borrowing costs, a January construction PMI of 46.4 and visibility on multiple long-term public investment programmes. Major commitments include Road Investment Strategy 3 (£24bn, 2026–31), Network Rail CP7 (£45bn from 2025), AMP8 in the water sector (over £50bn) and an expected £39bn social and affordable housing package. For contractors and clients, this combination of cheaper finance and a clearer pipeline supports medium-term planning but does not remove pressure to manage skills, inflation and delivery risk tightly. (Source: PBC Today)
🏛️ NPPF and Building Safety Levy consultations set the 2026 housing rulebook
The government’s consultation on reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework runs until 10 March 2026, including proposals to exempt smaller sites – for example under 50 units – from the forthcoming Building Safety Levy. In parallel, policy papers confirm that the Levy, due from October 2026, is expected to raise around £3.4–3.5bn over more than a decade to fund remediation, with potential exemptions for medium-sized sites still being considered. Developers and landowners now face a short window to shape cost and planning certainty on future residential schemes before the new regime hardens. (Source: Gowling WLG, GOV.UK)
🏛️ Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 moves from theory to practice
The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, which received Royal Assent in December, introduces streamlined judicial review pathways and wider reforms intended to accelerate Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects. Commentary highlights that the Act complements ongoing NPPF changes and Building Safety reforms, forming a more centralised, time-bound approvals framework for major projects. Promoters of energy, transport and water NSIPs now need to recalibrate consent strategies, litigation risk and stakeholder engagement around a more compressed decision-making timetable. (Source: Gowling WLG)
🚆 Haweswater aqueduct and A5 Western Corridor headline 2026 project starts
A new round-up of 2026 schemes confirms start-up of the £997m Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme in north-west England this February, upgrading a 110km strategic water tunnel and creating around 1,200 jobs under STRABAG UK. The A5 Western Transport Corridor in Northern Ireland, budgeted at £1.7bn, is also scheduled to commence this month, alongside a broader top-100 project list representing about £39bn of work across energy, transport and housing. These starts signal that the long-trailed investment pipeline is now translating into live opportunities, but they will also stress-test supply chains already operating with tight capacity. (Source: Construction Wave, Barbour ABI)
🏗️ Housing planning reforms drive surge in applications outside London
Government planning updates from early February report that planning applications for new homes outside London reached 335,000 in 2025, a 60% rise on 2024 levels. The increase is linked to policy shifts such as enabling “grey belt” development, encouraging self-build near transport hubs and proposals to strengthen Section 106 obligations to boost affordable housing supply. For developers, this suggests heightened competition for land and consents in growth areas, while local authorities face mounting pressure to translate permissions into actual build-out and delivery. (Source: DLUHC Planning Update, Strutt & Parker)
🌱 Energy price cap trajectory and £1bn Local Power Plan reshape local energy economics
The current Ofgem energy price cap for January–March 2026 stands at £1,758 per year for a typical Direct Debit household, with forecasts pointing to a fall to around £1,645 from April, supported by an Autumn Budget 2025 pledge to cut bills by £150 from 1 April. Alongside this, the government’s Local Power Plan commits £1bn to expand community clean energy schemes and support low-carbon technologies, within a wider 2026 review of energy strategy, emissions reporting and carbon pricing. The combination of lower retail tariffs and fresh local generation funding will influence the business case for retrofit, on-site renewables and grid‑supporting schemes on both public and private estates. (Source: Uswitch, GOV.UK, Ofgem)
Also in the news
🏛️ Planning policy commentators are calling for formal build-out programmes to tackle construction delays and convert rising permission volumes into actual housing completions. (Source: Strutt & Parker)
🏛️ The February Planning Update signals a push to strengthen Section 106 obligations specifically to increase affordable housing delivery, adding another negotiation lever to residential schemes. (Source: DLUHC Planning Update)
🚆 The aggregation of the top 100 UK construction projects at around £39bn highlights continued dominance of energy, transport and housing infrastructure in the forward workload mix. (Source: Barbour ABI)
🌱 Climate and nature policy is moving into a “delivery phase” in 2026, with changes to emissions reporting and carbon pricing expected to ripple through infrastructure and real estate investment decisions. (Source: Gowling WLG)
🏗️ Regulatory briefings note that the Building Safety Regulator’s transition to MHCLG responsibility in January 2026 consolidates oversight of safety and planning, affecting governance on higher-risk residential projects. (Source: PBC Today)
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 colleagues planning bids, investment cases or project approvals this quarter.