UK construction and property
- Building Safety Professionals | A three-month extension to the deadline for all building control professionals to be registered has been announced by the HSE-run Building Safety Regulator. The deadline of 6th April was deemed unachievable after too few people registered in time.
- Building Safety Levy | Housebuilders have warned that the new Building Safety Levy on new homes will add £5,000 to the cost of houses. The tax is intended to raise £3bn to pay for the remediation of buildings over 11 meters tall. Housebuilders have also argued that the tax is unnecessary because £5bn has already been raised through the Building Safety Fund and less than half of this funding has been committed to remediation projects.
- Planning problems | Greenwich Council admitted that it can no longer police planning applications as it lacked funding for inspectors.
- A new low | The number of planning permissions for new housing has reached a new low. The Housing Planning Report from the Home Builders Federation revealed that the number of permissions granted fell 20% in 2023. The Home Builders Federation’s executive chairman said, “This report should send alarm bells ringing across government and the country.”
- Output | Total construction output returned to growth in the three months to January but was reliant on repair & maintenance, which grew 4.0%. New work fell by 4.5%. New infrastructure work saw the largest fall (9.3%) but remains far above its pre-pandemic level.
- Second staircase | According to London Assembly Labour, 38,000 potential new homes are being blocked by the ongoing delay to the definition of the second staircase policy.
- Sizewell funding | Legislation that was recently introduced to prevent UK media from being bought by international organisations has led to questions over the funding of physical infrastructure. Hinkley Point C has been developed in collaboration with China, and the government has been encouraging the UAE’s involvement in Sizewell C.
- Heat pumps | The National Audit Office has pointed to the high cost of equipment and uncertain policy as a reason for the slow take-up of heat pumps in Britain. Meanwhile, the government will delay fines for boiler manufacturers who do not hit heat pump sales targets, from April this year until next year.
