At a Glance
Government leans harder on planning reform and housing programmes to keep delivery moving amid viability pressures.
A packed King’s Speech agenda flags major changes ahead on retentions, late payment, building safety and transport legislation.
Infrastructure spend remains anchored by a £725bn strategy and multi‑year road and rail settlements, but new awards are thin.
Renewables now supply over half of UK electricity, while grid-connection backlogs and nuclear decline reshape the energy mix.
Construction output is edging up but new orders and insolvency data confirm a fragile, two‑speed market.
Today’s update: policy and programme signals are more positive than the trading backdrop, with the state leaning on planning reform, housing support and long-term infrastructure budgets just as new orders and corporate failures point to ongoing stress. Energy system data and the King’s Speech underline how regulation, payment practices and grid access will shape future workloads. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead today.
Ongoing Stories
🏛️ Following earlier coverage of planning reforms and ministerial override powers, the now‑enacted Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is reshaping the system by tightening legal challenge routes for DCOs, with a refreshed NPPF and further cross‑boundary and environmental policy changes due through 2026.
🚆 Returning to long-term infrastructure delivery, the £725bn 10‑year Infrastructure Strategy is now being operationalised via Road Investment Strategy 3 (£24bn for 2026–31) and Network Rail’s £45bn Control Period 7, providing continuity even as project-level awards remain muted.
🏛️ Building on recent legislative updates, the King’s Speech agenda now crystallises into specific bills on retentions, late payment, remediation, major transport, energy and nuclear oversight, signalling a broad regulatory reset for the sector over the next Parliament.
💰 Continuing the focus on sector resilience and insolvencies, fresh ONS and RICS data show Q1 2026 output inching up but new orders slumping 10.5%, reinforcing the picture of a market where repair, maintenance and infrastructure work offset weakness in new-build and private commercial schemes.
Top 5 Headlines
🏗️ Planning reforms move from rhetoric to implementation
The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 is now law, curbing some legal challenges to Development Consent Orders as government doubles down on planning reform to accelerate housing and infrastructure delivery. A major National Planning Policy Framework update is expected this summer, with cross‑boundary and environmental policy changes being phased through 2026. For developers and promoters, this hardens the shift towards a more centralised, time‑bound consenting regime that could speed approvals but also change risk profiles on appeals and judicial review. (Source: gov.uk)
🏗️ £39bn social and affordable homes programme underpins housing pipeline
The £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme remains a cornerstone of housing supply, with the New Homes Accelerator having already unblocked more than 130,000 homes in England. Nearly £100m has been channelled into local authority planning capability and over £600m into construction skills training, aimed at supporting delivery capacity. This represents one of the few large, stable funding anchors for residential supply, offering pipeline visibility for contractors and registered providers against a backdrop of viability challenges. (Source: gov.uk, Pegasus Group, Shojin, Stantec)
🏛️ King’s Speech sets up sweeping changes on payments, safety and major schemes
The legislative programme includes a proposed ban on retention payments in construction contracts and a Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill imposing maximum 60‑day terms with mandatory 8% above base rate interest on late invoices. A Remediation Bill will enhance enforcement over unsafe cladding, while separate bills will rebrand and progress Northern Powerhouse Rail, extend regulated asset base financing to roads, accelerate energy infrastructure and streamline nuclear regulation, alongside a Regulating for Growth Bill to reshape regulators’ mandates. These measures, if enacted, would materially alter cashflow dynamics, risk allocation and compliance obligations across the supply chain, especially for main contractors and developers. (Source: gov.uk, jd supra, PBC Today)
🌱 Renewables pass 50% of UK power as grid queues bite
UK renewable generation hit a record 152.5 TWh in 2025, supplying 52.5% of electricity, while installed capacity rose by 3.8 GW to 65.1 GW, mainly from solar PV and offshore wind. Nuclear output fell a further 13%, and Ofgem is now reforming grid‑connection processes to tackle a 739 GW connection queue causing delays for some projects out to 2035; 27 hydrogen projects totalling 875 MW have been shortlisted under Hydrogen Allocation Round 2. The figures confirm a structural tilt towards renewables and hydrogen but highlight that grid and regulatory constraints, rather than technology, are now the critical bottlenecks for new generation and flexibility projects. (Source: gov.uk, Mordor Intelligence, UKERC)
💰 Fragile recovery: output edges up while orders and insolvencies worsen
ONS data shows total UK construction output grew 0.4% in Q1 2026, driven by a 3.4% rise in repair and maintenance, while new work fell 1.9%; March output rose 1.5%, assisted by year‑end activity, and output price inflation is subdued at 0.8% year‑on‑year. New construction orders dropped 10.5% in Q1, with private commercial and infrastructure particularly weak, and RICS reports negative workload balances and a two‑speed market skewed towards infrastructure and R&M. With construction insolvencies accounting for 17% of all business failures despite only 6–7% of GVA, risk on counterparties, pipelines and bid selectivity remains elevated across the industry. (Source: ONS, RICS, Glenigan, Tokio Marine HCC)
Also in the news
⚙️ RICS UK Awards 2026 regional shortlists highlight schemes including Silvertown Tunnel, Luton and Dunstable Hospital, Norfolk Community Diagnostic Centres, Chiswick Health Centre, Norton Folgate and the Birmingham Airport Capital Investment Programme across commercial, community, heritage and residential categories. (Source: rics.org)
🚆 Returning today to long-term infrastructure delivery, formal announcements on new major project procurements or tier‑one awards remain scarce for early June, with capital flows anchored instead in existing road and rail settlement periods. (Source: PM commentary, policy briefs)
🌱 No fresh carbon capture project announcements have emerged for 8–9 June, underscoring that the current low‑carbon investment focus is concentrated more on renewables, grid and hydrogen pipelines. (Source: gov.uk, UKERC)
💰 Market analysts estimate UK construction output at around £325bn in 2026 with medium‑term growth of roughly 3–4% CAGR, but emphasise that order softness and insolvency rates will keep trading conditions challenging in the near term. (Source: ONS, Glenigan, Tokio Marine HCC)
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 someone finalising a bid, investment case or risk review this week.