A more diverse construction workforce is at the heart of a new equity and inclusion plan launched in Scotland to give the building industry access to a wider talent pool and tackle labour shortfalls. Currently, women account for 2.7% of Scotland’s modern apprenticeships and makeup 15.4% of the workforce with a 23% pay gap. Just […]
Electricity companies rather than developers should pay for sub-stations to provide enough load for electric vehicle chargers in new homes, argues the National Federation of Builders, NFB. The trade body was reacting to prime minister Boris Johnson’s announcement that all new homes and buildings will be required by law to have electric vehicle charging points […]
Builders merchants recorded the highest revenue since their building index began in 2014 for the second quarter of this year despite a year-on-year drop in sales volume of 11%. The total value of sales for April to June was more than a quarter higher than the same period in 2019 and 4% greater than in […]
Laing O’Rourke’s £370m job to build HS2’s Birmingham Interchange propelled it to the top of the July league table. The contract to build the last of HS2’s stations took Laing O’Rourke nearly £150m ahead of its nearest competitor, according to data gathered by construction intelligence provider Glenigan. Laing O’Rourke will design and build the 150-hectare station in […]
PM hopeful Rishi Sunak’s pledge to protect the green belt and focus on delivering new homes on brownfield sites has been described as lacking insight by construction industry. Mr Sunak has said he wants to help smaller developers by removing barriers hindering them from building new homes and has pledged to tackle land banking. The […]
New warehouses and infrastructure growth are expected to fuel a rise in construction output by 2.5% for 2022, according to the Construction Product Association’s latest forecast. The trade body predicts the industrial sector, covering warehouses and factories, to rise by 15% for 2022 and nearly 10% for 2023. Construction Products Association, CPA, economics director Noble […]
Lloyds Banking Group, as the largest bank to the UK housing sector, today announces the launch of its new Sustainability Finance Framework, which outlines our support to help housebuilders access finance to build more homes with higher sustainability standards. The Framework supports the Group’s commitment to expanding the availability and affordability of safe, high quality […]
The value of underlying work starting on-site during Q2 2022 fell 5% against the preceding three months to stand 27% lower than a year ago. While residential project-starts increased 17% against the preceding three-month period, the value remained 21% down on the previous year. Non-residential construction-starts fell by more than a fifth (-22%) compared with […]
In April 2022, the volume of monthly construction output decreased slightly by 0.4% (£14.9m), the first monthly decline since October 2021, according to the latest Office of National Statistics figures. The decrease in monthly construction output in April 2022 came from a fall in repair and maintenance (2.4%), which was offset slightly by a rise in new work (0.9%); the fall is partly […]
Nearly a third of construction firms have been forced to switch from housebuilding to other types of work due to inadequate professional indemnity insurance, PII, according to an industry poll. The Construction Leadership Council’s, CLC, survey found SMEs were particularly badly hit by increased premiums and excess levels plus wide-ranging exclusions. Out of the 652 […]
