At a Glance
🚆 A refreshed £718bn National Infrastructure Pipeline and a £39bn 2026 project start pipeline set the tone for a civils-heavy decade.
🏗️ Cost inflation of 3.6% and flatlining workloads highlight a growing gap between ambition and realistic delivery capacity.
🏘️ Housing demand, prices and rents are rising again even as overall construction output dips and new private housing weakens.
🌱 Clean Power 2030 reforms, CfD gains and bill restructuring are reshaping long-term opportunities for energy and grid contractors.
🏛️ Rental reform, devolution and planning changes are converging to reset risk and return for residential and mixed-use investors.
Today’s update: government has expanded the National Infrastructure Pipeline to £718bn while Glenigan flags a slower, more fragile market with rising costs and stalled development. At the same time, housing demand and clean energy policy are moving ahead of delivery capacity, loading more pressure onto planning, pricing and programme risk. Here’s what you need to know to stay ahead today.
Ongoing Stories
🏛️ Returning this week, renters’ rights reforms move from concept to implementation, with the Renters Rights Act 2025 tenancy changes now confirmed to start on 1 May 2026, sharpening the timeline for BTR and PRS landlords to adjust contract models and compliance processes. (Source: Clyde & Co)
🌱 Following earlier coverage of clean energy planning reforms, today’s briefing adds detail on National Policy Statements for renewables and grid queue reform, plus a record CfD auction round that materially expands the renewables project pipeline contractors will be bidding into. (Source: Slaughter and May, Ofgem)
Top 5 Headlines
🚆 £718bn National Infrastructure Pipeline maps decade of work
The government’s updated National Infrastructure Pipeline now lists 734 projects worth £718bn over the next ten years, up from £530bn previously. The programme spans hospitals, schools, rail, reservoirs and clean energy, and is positioned as a key tool for investment planning, jobs forecasting and delivery confidence across the supply chain. The 2026 Spring Statement maintained core commitments to energy transition, housing and transport, signalling policy continuity around this enlarged pipeline. This matters because it gives contractors, consultants and investors a clearer – and bigger – long-term workload horizon, even as near-term markets remain volatile. (Source: Gov.uk, Project Delivery, Build News, Slaughter and May, Franklin Templeton)
🏗️ £39bn of top-project starts in 2026 led by civils mega-schemes
Glenigan analysis points to a £39bn pipeline across the top 100 UK construction projects starting in 2026, with civil engineering dominating at £23.8bn. Flagship schemes include the £10.2bn Lower Thames Crossing, due to start in November 2026 and open in 2032; the £3bn Haweswater Aqueduct Resilience Programme in the North West; the £1bn Project Reach digital rail upgrade in London; and the £450m Crown Works Studios in the North East. With large transport, water and media projects front-loaded, tier ones and regional specialists will be competing for scarce skills and supply chain capacity on complex, long-duration work. (Source: ConstructionWave, Build News, PBCToday)
⚙️ Cost inflation and weak growth cloud construction outlook
UK construction costs are forecast to rise by 3.6% in 2026, against a backdrop of international conflicts and market volatility that Glenigan’s March 2026 Construction Index says are holding most sectors to slow-or-no growth. Disruption to material supply chains, particularly from the Middle East, is feeding into product price rises and concerns over potential job losses. This combination of higher input costs and tepid demand raises pressure on margins and may force clients to re-scope, re-sequence or delay schemes to preserve viability. (Source: Building.co.uk, PBCToday, Build News)
🏘️ Housing demand and prices rebound despite output fall
Persimmon has reported a 12% rise in 2025 completions and a 17% uplift in underlying profit while maintaining an affordable pricing stance, and Balfour Beatty’s UK business has increased turnover by 3% to £3.1bn with a 36% profit rise, driven by energy, defence and transport work. Yet overall UK construction output fell 2% between Q4 2025 and January 2026, with private new housing down 6.3%. RICS data shows buyer interest and prices picking up again in 2026, with demand outstripping supply and regional rental growth of around 8% in the North East. The divergence between stronger housebuilder performance and falling new-build output underlines pent-up demand and suggests land, planning and finance constraints will be key battlegrounds for residential delivery. (Source: Brick Weaver, Costar, Black Brick, RICS)
🌱 Clean Power 2030 push reshapes energy and grid opportunities
The UK is progressing towards its Clean Power 2030 goal of cutting electricity carbon intensity to 50g CO₂/kWh by 2030, with renewables and nuclear already delivering 70% of generation by 2024 and intensity still falling. New measures include a National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure, reforms to grid connection queues and balancing mechanism changes, alongside a recent Contracts for Difference auction securing record volumes of solar, onshore wind and tidal projects. Household energy bills are expected to drop by 7% (£117) between April and June 2026 as environmental and social levies move from bills to general taxation, while network costs edge up, and support such as the £15bn Warm Homes Plan and larger discounts for energy-intensive industries are rolled out. For developers and contractors, this is expanding the pipeline of grid, generation and retrofit work – but within a market where regulatory detail and connection reform will heavily shape delivery risk. (Source: Slaughter and May, EDF Energy, Ofgem, Bevan Brittan, Carbon Pulse)
Also in the news
🏛️ Rental sector reforms are advancing, with the Renters Rights Act 2025 overhauling tenancy structures from 1 May 2026, alongside business rates changes introducing a high-value band above £500k and revised Retail, Hospitality and Leisure reliefs, reshaping cashflows for landlords and high-street occupiers. (Source: Brick Weaver, Clyde & Co)
🏛️ The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill continues through Parliament, transferring planning and housing powers to new Strategic Authorities and changing who major developers will need to engage with on large schemes. (Source: Brick Weaver)
🏛️ Consultation on the revised National Planning Policy Framework closed on 10 March 2026, with government expected to respond in summer 2026, setting the direction of travel for housing targets, density and plan-making. (Source: Clyde & Co)
💰 The Spring Statement forecasts average house price inflation of 2.5% and mortgage rates rising from 4.1% to 4.5% in 2026, pointing to a mildly tightening financing environment for buyers and developers. (Source: PBCToday, Build News)
🏛️ Government is pushing to clear the Building Safety Act Gateway 2 backlog for higher-risk schemes, signalling renewed focus on safety-critical approvals as part of the post-Grenfell reforms. (Source: PBCToday, Build News)
The Daily Build is written for people shaping the UK’s construction and infrastructure pipeline, from boardrooms to site offices. If a colleague is wrestling with pipeline planning, energy strategy or housing delivery, consider forwarding today’s edition so they can factor these shifts into their next decision.