Budget jitters see construction forecasts plummetContinuing uncertainty around next month’s Budget has seen the Construction Products Association’s Autumn Forecasts revised substantially downwards.
Total construction output is now only forecast to grow by 1.1% in 2025 and 2.8% in 2026 – down from previous predictions of 1.9% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2026.
Firms across the construction supply…
Social homes face urgent repair blitz as Awaab’s Law takes effectSocial landlords across England are bracing for a massive maintenance and building upgrade drive as new laws come into force forcing emergency repairs to be completed within strict deadlines.
The first phase of Awaab’s Law – named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died in 2020 from exposure to black mould in his Rochda…
£700m East West Rail tender race set to hit the tracksEast West Rail Company has put firms on alert for a virtual bidders day for a major £700m framework covering preparatory and support works for the Oxford–Cambridge rail link.
The eight-year Programme Support Works Framework will bring together multiple suppliers across five lots from archaeology and ground investigation to principa…
Manchester landmark towers approvedDeveloper Oval Real Estate has secured planning approval for its landmark Albert Bridge House skyscraper scheme in central Manchester.
The revised plans replace a previously approved 2023 design with a three-building cluster featuring two octagonal residential towers rising to 49 and 37 storeys, and an 18-storey commercial block.
The site, located beside t…
‘Partial collapse’ hits Manchester demolition jobThe partial collapse of a building under demolition in Manchester sent scaffolding falling into the adjacent River Irwell on Friday afternoon.
Contractor PP O’Connor is demolishing the 12-storey Alberton House in the city centre for developer Bruntwood SciTech who plan a new 18-storey office block on the site.
Bruntwood SciTech told t…
Balfour Beatty seals start for £162m Edinburgh concert hall jobBalfour Beatty has landed a £162m contract to build the long-awaited Dunard Centre, Edinburgh’s first purpose-built concert hall in more than a century.
The deal was sealed after the Scottish Government stepped in with a £20m rescue package for the project, which finally moves forward more than six years after first winning…
Lovell gets go-ahead for £1bn Druids Heath regenerationBirmingham City Council has approved outline plans for the £1bn regeneration of the Druids Heath estate, paving the way for 3,500 new homes and a major transformation of the south Birmingham community.
Around 1,785 new homes will be affordable, with 400 earmarked for social rent in the first phase. The remainder will be delivered through a…
Emergency measures to kick start London house buildingA package of emergency measures has been unveiled to boost house building in London after more than a third of boroughs recorded zero new home construction starts in the first quarter of this year.
The moves will unlock development by making sites more viable and incentivise developers to get spades in the ground through a fast-tracked…
FP McCann gets green light for 22-storey precast towerPrecast concrete specialist FP McCann has secured Gateway 2 approval for Prosperity Developments’ Smithfield Plot 1 project in Birmingham’s Digbeth district.
The green light from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) paves the way for construction to start next April on the 22-storey residential tower.
FP McCann willl be in charge of t…
Bovis, Kier and Wates land £1.5bn Parliament revampTen firms have secured places on a new £1.5bn framework to deliver the programme of on-going repairs and improvements to the Houses of Parliament and its wider MP estate in London.
Bovis, Kier and Wates share the top slot for major mixed-discipline projects over £50m under the Parliamentary Construction Partnership framework to keep the Palac…