Government slashes red tape to tackle housing crisis May 28, 2025 The government will slash red tape to get more construction by smaller building firms off the ground, and to “get working people on the housing ladder,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has said as Labour looks to promote its pro-business credentials. A relaxation of environmental protections is expected, including Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements which [...]
Labour’s tax policies are hitting the companies they need to build homes May 23, 2025 Construction plant-hire companies are fundamental to delivering the government’s pledge to build 1.5m homes, but they tend to be family businesses – the very kind that are being worst hit by changes to NICs and Business Property Relief, says Steven Mulholland The latest Homes England figures might look promising – more homes completed, more sites started, and [...]
Insolvency levels hit highest level in eight months in Awful April May 20, 2025 April insolvency levels soared to their highest level in in eight months, official data has shown, reflecting businesses’ helplessness in the face of higher employment costs and the looming threat of President Trump’s tariffs. Over 2,000 companies collapsed last month, with most owners filing for voluntary liquidation and some 105 firms going into administration. If [...]
Support for local housebuilding plummets since election May 20, 2025 Brits’ support for housebuilding in their local area has fallen since the general election in a risk to the government’s lofty construction goals, according to new data. Net support has dropped by 11 percentage points, with renters’ backing for new housing near where they live falling by 14 percentage points, according to new research by [...]
Should women’s football teams be building their own stadiums? May 18, 2025 Amid booming attendances and ahead of the Women’s FA Cup final, Becky Stormer of CBRE examines the case for women’s football teams to get their own new-build stadiums. 31 July 2022 was a pivotal day for women’s football. Since that time, with England’s historic victory over Germany in the Euros, interest, investment, participation and attendance [...]
Travis Perkins: New CEO named after torrid year and FTSE 250 shares slump May 9, 2025 The man chosen to lead an almighty rebuilding project at construction supplies giant Travis Perkins has been named. Gavin Slark has been picked as the Northamptonshire-headquartered company’s new chief executive and is set to take up his role no later than 1 January, 2026. Slark has held the same position at SIG since 2023 and [...]
Construction industry ‘not expected to recover’ in 2025, building supplier Lords says May 8, 2025 The UK construction industry is unlikely to recover before the end of the year, one of Britain’s biggest building materials suppliers has said, as firms wrestle with rising taxes and increased uncertainty. London-listed Lords said it was continuing to focus on delivering efficiencies to deal with cost pressures and “an increasingly onerous regulatory environment” after [...]
UK construction crumbles in April as ‘bumpy ride’ continues May 7, 2025 UK construction endured another month of collapsing output in April, new research has suggested, in signs that a turnaround in the sector is still distant. The sector has now seen a decline in output over four consecutive months, according to S&P Global’s newest purchasing managers’ index (PMI). Civil engineering remained the weakest area of construction [...]
Construction firms lose hope but businesses are ‘showing resilience’ April 30, 2025 Construction firms have grown despondent about their business prospects despite signs of resilience across the UK economy, a new survey has found. The sector is key to the housing secretary Angela Rayner’s plans to build 1.5m homes by 2030 though early signs suggest the ambitious target will not be met. Construction saw a bigger drop [...]
Sir Robert McAlpine returns to profit after losing over £100m April 28, 2025 Sir Robert McAlpine, the family-owned construction giant which built London 2012’s Olympic Stadium, has recovered from losing over £100m to return to profit. The Hertfordshire-headquartered business has posted a pre-tax profit of £10.4m for 2024 after having slumped to a loss of £104.6m in 2023. The business has also reported a turnover of £940m for [...]