Build Build Build

[V8Druid]

Construction apprenticeships oversubscribed by 135 to 1

A Midlands building contractor has revealed that 2,694 people have applied for just 20 apprenticeship roles that it has available.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

" A Midlands building contractor has revealed that 2,694 people have applied for just 20 apprenticeship roles that it has available. "

 

[V8Druid]

I would have thought Tokyo would have topped the list along with a few other Jap cities ??

London no longer world’s costliest city to build

Arcadis has published its 2025 rankings of cities in the world according to how expensive it is to build things in them.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

 

[V8Druid]

" The UK Government’s proposals include:​

• A single landfill tax rate by 2030, phasing out the lower rate entirely
• The removal of exemptions for mineral sector practices by April 2027, affecting quarry restoration and the use of stabilizers in dredged materials
• The revocation of the Qualifying Fines Regime, which will remove access to the lower tax or exemption rate for fines used for the purposes of restoration starting April 2027
• The withdrawal of Landfill Tax relief for materials deposited under a Quarries Restoration Order 1999. "

Landfill Tax Reform: Major changes ahead

British Aggregates Association issues call to action to members and the wider construction industry

www.agg-net.com

 

[6feetdown]

" The UK Government’s proposals include:​

• A single landfill tax rate by 2030, phasing out the lower rate entirely
• The removal of exemptions for mineral sector practices by April 2027, affecting quarry restoration and the use of stabilizers in dredged materials
• The revocation of the Qualifying Fines Regime, which will remove access to the lower tax or exemption rate for fines used for the purposes of restoration starting April 2027
• The withdrawal of Landfill Tax relief for materials deposited under a Quarries Restoration Order 1999. "

Landfill Tax Reform: Major changes ahead

British Aggregates Association issues call to action to members and the wider construction industry

www.agg-net.com

Another tax grab

 

[Smiffy]

Construction apprenticeships oversubscribed by 135 to 1

A Midlands building contractor has revealed that 2,694 people have applied for just 20 apprenticeship roles that it has available.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

" A Midlands building contractor has revealed that 2,694 people have applied for just 20 apprenticeship roles that it has available. "

I would take that with a pinch of salt. Most of them will be African and have no visa, be bots, recruitment agencies and people with no actual interest applying for the sake of it.

 

[V8Druid]

the rot continues .......

HS2 fraud and bribery allegations surface

An anonymous whistleblower is alleging large-scale fraud on the HS2 project.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

" An anonymous whistleblower is alleging large-scale fraud on the HS2 project. ........ supplying self-employed CIS workers while charging an inflated PAYE rate and using fraudulent offshore payroll companies to process these bogus payments. "

 

[V8Druid]

House-builders exposed for cheating on nature commitments

Research has discovered that house-builders rarely put in all those wildlife-friendly features that they have promised to.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

"A study of housing developments has found that developers are routinely dropping the ecological features that they had promised in order to secure planning permission.

And they get away with it because planning authorities never follow up and check...The study highlights a lack of monitoring and enforcement due to under-resourced enforcement teams, unable or lacking the skills to monitor the ecology of new developments."

 

[V8Druid]

this is gonna make everyone's fees climb in some order - professional indemnity ins. will go through the roof

Consultants and suppliers on the hook for building remediation costs

A landmark legal judgment has confirmed that developers can sue their consultants and engineers for contributions to building safety remediation costs.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

" The Supreme Court has found in favour of Barratt Redrow in its dispute with consulting engineer URS, paving the way for the developer to sue the engineer for its role in the design of buildings that Barratt had put up that, since subsequent changes in building safety law, needed remediation works. ..........the Supreme Court has effectively given the go-ahead for Barrat Redrow to bring legal action against URS – and by extension for developers facing hefty remediation bills to pursue their entire supply chain for contributions, potentially opening a floodgate of legal action that will have all developers breathing a sigh of relief and lawyers rubbing the hands. ......... This case furthers that aim by ensuring that developers have a clearer path to recover funds from designers and constructors who designed and built unsafe buildings. "

quite how the hell retrospective judgements're gonna work practically is going to be interesting.. if the goal posts're moved post completion HTF can anyone be held responsible for summat that didn't exist at the time FFS ?
however

 

[V8Druid]

House-builders exposed for cheating on nature commitments

Research has discovered that house-builders rarely put in all those wildlife-friendly features that they have promised to.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

"A study of housing developments has found that developers are routinely dropping the ecological features that they had promised in order to secure planning permission.

And they get away with it because planning authorities never follow up and check...The study highlights a lack of monitoring and enforcement due to under-resourced enforcement teams, unable or lacking the skills to monitor the ecology of new developments."

Pressure grows on government to rethink nature levy

A coalition of development businesses, professional bodies, legal experts and conservationists has come together to urge the government to drop Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

" Critics of Part 3 of the Planning & Infrastructure Bill have called it ‘a licence to kill’ and a ‘pay to pollute’ scheme. The Bill proposes allowing developers to ignore local habitats and bypass their biodiversity net gain requirements (which have only recently been introduced) by lobbing some money to Natural England for a state-controlled nature levy scheme. "

can't control the current reg.s - so have zero chance of maintaining any level of control on this

 

[V8Druid]

Don't scrimp on quality standards for new towns, taskforce chair tells housebuilders

Michael Lyons tells UKREiiF conference that working on government's 10,000-home developments will come with 'clear expectations' around design and mix

www.building.co.uk

" The New Towns Taskforce is currently examining almost 100 proposals for new towns and is expected to recommend 12 locations for around 10,000 homes each to ministers in July, with work starting on the sites within the next four years....... The government is also expected to set out design principles favouring traditional, Georgian-style homes and winding streets in an effort to create “well-designed, beautiful communities”...Potential sites announced this summer could be located within London’s green belt following the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan opening a door to new towns on the outskirts of the capital in a major speech last week. "

 

[V8Druid]

Knauf | Glass Mineral Wool Case Study – Northwich Housing

Inox Construction decided to switch from using rigid PIR boards in a 125mm cavity to Knauf Insulation’s DriTherm® Cavity Slab 32 in a 150mm cavity.

knauf.com

thought 6" cavities were a 'thing' these days anyway ?? presumably there are trays, lintels, etc. to accommodate a 6" cavity widely available ???

 

[V8Druid]

Barratt set to build 728 Passivhaus homes across London

Proposed rollout spans two schemes in partnership with Places for London

www.building.co.uk

not a cat's chance with Barrat in charge ... can't even build decent 'traditional' homes, let alone sealed ones

Barratt to adopt Passivhaus for all London developments

Barratt, the UK’s biggest volume house-builder, says that all of its developments in London will now be built to Passivhaus standard or better.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

 

[V8Druid]

well this was firmly 'on the ropes' at the start of the year ?????

Employers vote to keep CITB levy

Construction employers have voted in favour of the Construction Industry Training Board’s 2026-29 levy proposals.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

 

[V8Druid]

interesting reading ......

Increased output just a blip - Glenigan

A 33% rise in project starts during the three months to the end of April this year belies a persistent lack of major project activity, according to the latest figures from data specialist Glenigan.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

 

[V8Druid]

and WTF is wing nut, et al doing signing up to JVs with an Ozzy developer ??

Crown Estate signs development JV with Lendlease for six major schemes in London and Birmingham

Pictured (l-r) are investment minister Baroness Gustafsson, The Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad, Lendlease chief Tony Lombardo and chancellor Rachel Reeves

www.building.co.uk

Lendlease/Crown Estate JV to accelerate developments

Lendlease has entered into a joint venture with the Crown Estate to complete $300m (£225m)-worth of Lendlease UK’s development projects.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

 

[V8Druid]

Cala blames planning delays as housebuilder’s profit falls

Firm that was recently sold to private equity says starts held up by red tape

www.building.co.uk

usual suspects buggering up progress

 

[TiltyShaun]

Knauf | Glass Mineral Wool Case Study – Northwich Housing

Inox Construction decided to switch from using rigid PIR boards in a 125mm cavity to Knauf Insulation’s DriTherm® Cavity Slab 32 in a 150mm cavity.

knauf.com

thought 6" cavities were a 'thing' these days anyway ?? presumably there are trays, lintels, etc. to accommodate a 6" cavity widely available ???

Lintels are ‘widely available at a WILD price! Around double the price of a 100mm cavity lintel unless you have enough for a direct order!!!

 

[TiltyShaun]

interesting reading ......

Increased output just a blip - Glenigan

A 33% rise in project starts during the three months to the end of April this year belies a persistent lack of major project activity, according to the latest figures from data specialist Glenigan.

www.theconstructionindex.co.uk

The devil is always in the detail. The real picture can be seen in the decline in merchant sales!! At best we are in for a year of bumbling along the bottom.
Pretty much have a full diary for this year but no visibility yet for what next year will offer. Keep thinking of what services to add but going to progress with finishing the barn this year to add something to the property returns pot!!

 

[Smiffy]

The devil is always in the detail. The real picture can be seen in the decline in merchant sales!! At best we are in for a year of bumbling along the bottom.
Pretty much have a full diary for this year but no visibility yet for what next year will offer. Keep thinking of what services to add but going to progress with finishing the barn this year to add something to the property returns pot!!

I don't think any of these government studies yet show how bad the situation is. Most the building firms round here are tightening up on weekend work and overtime. Everyone is tightening up in general. My shotgun certificate is up for renewal and I haven't been out shooting in 2 years so I took the guns to sell. They offered bigger all for them as they are overstocked with people selling them and no one buying anything.
If you go to any of the day out type places they are noticeably less busy than in the last few years.
Quite a few of the part time teachers at my wife's school have asked to go full time. The teaching assistants that are qualified teachers have all asked to pick up cover lessons.
Our household bills (including childcare) have gone up about £600-700 a month this year already.

 

[craig]

shotgun certificate is up for renewal and I haven't been out shooting in 2 years so I took the guns to sell. They offered bigger all for them as they are overstocked with people selling them and no one buying anything.

The proposed lead ban isn't doing older shotguns any favors, basically scrap value