UK construction and property
- Labour needs | The Construction Industry Training Board reports that an additional 225,000 extra construction workers will be needed by 2027 to meet the current known pipeline. This equates to an annual requirement of almost 45,000 per year, a reduction from the previous forecast of 53,000.
- Levelling up | Details of 111 projects which are set to share a £2.1bn levelling up fund have been announced. The fund, which will expire in March 2025, will be split between improving transport links (£672m), community regeneration (£821m), and local heritage sites (£584m). The announcement was delayed from October 2022 due to the rapid changes at Number 10.
- Rail frameworks | Network rail has named five contractors to deliver a £2bn programme of works over the next eight years in Wales and the Western region.
- Confidence | The RIBA’s confidence index increased in December with optimism over future workloads increasing at the fastest rate since the end of the first Covid-19 lockdown, aided by greater political stability.