The push to “Get Britain Building Again” has officially commenced.
The UK has never created 300,000 new homes in a single year before, but Labour has pledged to do it – claiming that 1.5 million properties are going to be delivered by the time the decade is out. For those monitoring the outlook for construction in the UK, these figures are ambitious but represent a critical push towards bridging the national housing gap.
Now that the starting gun has fired on the government’s ambitious race to build, the construction sector has responded with caution. Industry personnel know that the process of turning this bold vision into reality will involve considerable, irrevocable changes to the way the sector operates.
In 2025, the construction world could begin to look very different. Here’s what we can expect from the evolving outlook for the UK construction sector…
A new landscape
Construction was already in the midst of change before the shift in government, with the Building Safety Act of 2023 announcing new protocols across multiple areas including fire safety, accountability, data sharing and material specification. Specific updates have also been made to Approved Document B that come into effect this Spring – providing new guidance on how to meet the latest building regulations including structural fire protection, means of escape, fire service access, and fire spread. The Grenfell Inquiry’s final report has also recommended a single regulator to hold officials and the industry to account.
Other rules and recommendations for the construction sector are continuing to evolve as we move into 2025, including the initiation of the Future Homes Standard (FHS), where all new builds must produce 75-80% less carbon emissions than those built under current building regulations. Complicating matters is the fact the FHS is still being tweaked, with the intended 2035 ban on gas boilers already being scrapped just a few days into 2025.
All public procurement agencies must now adopt a centralised digital platform for publishing contract opportunities (as part of the delayed Procurement Act), and the government will mandate Building Information Modelling (BIM) for all centrally procured Government contracts from 2016.
There are also plans for a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority – a body which will steer and enact a 10-year strategy for infrastructure development.
This is a lot of new regulation in short space of time, meaning construction will need to tick a lot more boxes in the sustainability and health & safety columns. It will be a big adjustment. But first, they need the find the staff…
Addressing the skills shortage
The 2024 UK Trade Skills Index claimed the industry needs 700,000 staff and 350,000 new apprentices for the government to deliver its targets – so finding a way to plug the skills gap is essential.
The construction workforce is dwindling post-Brexit after losing workers from Europe and is ageing considerably – with younger talent choosing career paths in different industries. Fresh funding has already been allocated to address this issue, with £140m pumped into the provision of 5,000 additional construction apprenticeship places per year.
The sector is also highly anticipating the launch of educational bodies such as Skills England – which aims to “unify the skills landscape to ensure that the workforce is equipped with the skills needed to power economic growth”.
The construction sector has not been shy about asking the government for further support – and we will need to see thousands of freshly-trained bricklayers, electricians and plumbers if the mission to build big in a sustainable way is going to be a success. As the outlook for the UK construction sector hinges on adequate staffing, solving this skills gap is paramount.
Building green
Building, by its very nature, leaves behind a big carbon footprint – contributing 40% of global carbon emissions – which risks putting the UK’s construction push directly at odds with its other aim of becoming Net Zero by 2050.
In order to achieve both targets, the UK is encouraging sustainable construction – enforcing stricter standards on emissions and nudging the sector to utilise sustainable materials and renewable energy sources.
As an incentive for building sustainably, tax benefits will be available for construction projects that achieve certain green benchmarks, as well as subsidies for the use of eco-friendly technologies. A Warm Homes Plan has also been drawn up to offer grants and low interest loans to support investment in insulation.
We are seeing some progress on this front: Evidence suggests domestic construction is already moving towards a greener future. National Building Specification (NBS) research shows 70% of construction projects now incorporate sustainability targets, with 43% of industry professionals report successfully achieving green goals (up from a third in 2022).
Looking ahead
UK construction is already a vastly different world to the one we were looking at this time last year, with the government and industry both working at an intense pace to meet targets amid changing regulations.
This is a pivotal moment for a sector rife with debate. If you’re looking for construction PR and marketing services amid the shifting outlook for the construction industry, Refresh can help. Our expertise in this sector has seen us support a wide range of clients throughout the entire construction supply chain over the past 15 years, and we make it our business to have our finger firmly on the pulse as construction moves into a new era.
Get in touch and we can talk through your strategy for 2025.