Today’s update: cracks in the UK’s £530bn construction and infrastructure pipeline are colliding with planning reform, a cooling housing market, and a rapid ramp-up in grid and offshore wind investment. Labour, skills and delivery risk sit behind almost every major initiative, from East West Rail to floating wind and new homes targets. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead today.

⚙️ Report warns of cracks in £530bn construction pipeline. An Oxford Economics report for the Construction Plant-hire Association flags serious delivery risks across the UK’s £530bn programme, with an additional 250,000 workers needed against nearly 500,000 expected retirements over 15 years. Apprenticeship completion has slipped to 53%, and just 14% of major infrastructure projects are currently on track. The CPA is calling for policy shifts including reversing recent employer National Insurance rises, extending full expensing and retaining Business Property Relief to support family firms, underscoring that skills and fiscal policy could become as critical as capital in determining which schemes proceed. (Source: projectplant.co.uk, constructionbriefing.com)

🏛️ Late-stage Planning and Infrastructure Bill changes to speed delivery. The government has tabled final amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill aimed at accelerating housing and infrastructure, including new ministerial call-in powers, protections for permissions from lapsing via judicial review delays, and measures to enable more onshore wind and reservoir projects. The package underpins the ambition for 1.5m homes this Parliament, alongside a fresh consultation on reforming statutory consultees and minor adjustments to post-Brexit Construction Products rules. For developers and contractors, the direction of travel is towards faster central intervention but sharper scrutiny from communities and environmental groups who argue local democracy is being diluted. (Source: ukconstructionmedia.co.uk, gov.uk, todaysconveyancer.co.uk)

🚆 East West Rail next phase confirmed with new stations and greener trains. The Department for Transport has confirmed the next phase of East West Rail, including new stations at Stewartby and Cambridge East, with the expanded programme expected to add nearly £50bn to the economy by 2055. The route will deploy hybrid battery-electric rolling stock, positioning the scheme as a flagship for lower-carbon inter-urban rail. The decision reinforces central government backing for strategic rail despite wider fiscal pressures, creating long-term opportunities in civils, stations, and systems delivery for supply chains able to manage complex phasing and interfaces. (Source: cittimagazine.co.uk, constructionbriefing.com)

🏗️ Housing market softens as planning capacity comes under strain. Rightmove data show average asking prices fell 1.8% (£6,591) in November to £364,833, the sharpest November drop in over a decade, with London values 2.1% down annually and the North East up 2.4%. Buyer demand is 8% lower year-on-year and many developers are holding back amid Budget uncertainty, even as over half of surveyed industry respondents say planning reform, not tax cuts, is the key to unlocking supply. With the Planning Inspectorate still approving significant schemes, such as a 350-home development in Herefordshire, but 20% of planners intending to leave the profession within three years, delivery risk is shifting from market demand to planning system capacity. (Source: rightmove.co.uk, costar.com, pbctoday.co.uk, gov.uk)

🌱 Regulators and investors push major grid and offshore wind build-out. Ofgem has approved early construction funding for major transmission reinforcements, including new overhead lines and offshore HVDC links to connect more renewable generation, while the government prepares a new Energy Resilience Strategy focused on safeguarding critical infrastructure. A large Scottish floating offshore wind project has secured backing from the National Wealth Fund and Great British Energy, Ocean Winds has gained rights for a third floating site in the Celtic Sea, and the Humber cluster is advancing carbon capture pipelines alongside fresh decarbonisation research highlighting building automation and electrification. This signals a sustained project pipeline in grid, offshore wind and industrial decarbonisation, but one that will intensify competition for specialist skills, consenting capacity and port-side construction capability. (Source: ofgem.gov.uk, gbe.gov.uk, oceanwinds.com, miragenews.com, prnewswire.com, carbonherald.com)

Also in the news

⚙️ The CPA report links falling apprenticeship completion rates to rising delivery risk on major projects, reinforcing calls from plant-hire firms for more predictable tax and skills policy. (Source: projectplant.co.uk, constructionbriefing.com) 🏛️ Government’s consultation on statutory consultees, launched on 18 November, seeks to streamline which bodies must be formally engaged on planning applications and how quickly they must respond. (Source: gov.uk) 🏗️ New Planning Inspectorate decisions this week, including approval for around 350 homes in Herefordshire, show strategic housing schemes are still progressing despite weaker buyer demand. (Source: gov.uk) 🌱 Recent decarbonisation studies highlight that building automation, smarter controls and further electrification will be critical to meeting sectoral carbon targets alongside fabric upgrades. (Source: prnewswire.com) 🌱 The Humber carbon capture cluster continues to advance, with partial completion of onshore CO₂ pipeline infrastructure targeted as developers firm up timelines for full-chain deployment. (Source: carbonherald.com) The Daily Build is written for people steering projects, programmes and portfolios across the UK built environment.

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