Prime Minister Andy Burnham has put council housebuilding, electricity grid expansion and reform of the water sector at the centre of a new UK growth programme, using his first Labour Party conference speech as Prime Minister to set out a series of measures with direct implications for construction and infrastructure delivery.
The 29 September speech included a commitment to what Burnham called the “biggest council house building programme since the post-war era”, alongside the launch of Great British Grid, stronger public control of water companies and further measures affecting empty homes, leasehold property and town-centre regeneration. Several of those policy areas are already linked to funded government programmes, while others still require legislation, detailed delivery plans or future procurement before they translate into construction contracts.
Andy Burnham during his Labour Party Conference 2026 address, where he set out proposals covering council housing, energy infrastructure, water reform and public services. Editorial image based on source material from Andy Burnham / X.
Council housing becomes a central construction programme
Housing formed the first major construction element of Burnham’s conference programme. In the published transcript of the Prime Minister’s conference speech, Burnham said councils would be supported to build on unused public land, while Right-to-Buy would be changed so that newly delivered council homes remain within the public housing stock. The proposal is not starting from a zero funding position. The Government has already established a 10-year £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme. In August, ministers announced initial allocations approaching £10bn and said the programme would place greater emphasis on direct council delivery.
Homes England has also opened the Council Housebuilding Support Fund, with £21.8m of revenue funding available through to March 2029 to help local authorities build development capability and prepare larger bids into the affordable housing programme. Eligible work includes feasibility studies, technical due diligence, site investigation and other pre-development activity.
For contractors and consultants, this distinction matters. The £39bn programme is a national funding envelope rather than a single construction contract, and individual projects will still need sites, planning, design, funding allocations and procurement before work begins. Earlier London Construction Magazine analysis of Burnham’s construction programme identified council housing, estate regeneration, acquisitions and empty-property conversion as some of the principal potential workstreams.
Burnham also proposed giving councils stronger powers to bring empty homes back into use and to acquire poor-quality rented homes where landlords repeatedly fail to improve them. Separately, the Government confirmed on Tuesday that further leasehold reforms will include powers to cap certain administration and permission fees and plans for independent regulation of property agents.
Great British Grid targets connection delays
The clearest new infrastructure announcement was Great British Grid. Burnham linked electricity connection delays directly to business expansion and inward investment, arguing that companies were being held back because they could not secure grid capacity quickly enough. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed on 29 September that Great British Grid will operate as a new publicly owned body within Great British Energy and will be able to invest in electricity network infrastructure.
The Government says the body is intended to help accelerate expansion and modernisation of the electricity network, support new generation and reduce delays in connecting homes and businesses. The announcement does not itself award individual construction packages or specify a total construction value for Great British Grid. That procurement detail will be important for the supply chain. Grid reinforcement can generate work across substations, transmission and distribution infrastructure, cabling, civils, connections and associated enabling works, but the scale and timing of those opportunities will depend on the investment programme that follows.
LCM has previously examined how electrical capacity and connection delays are affecting construction starts, particularly where housing, logistics, heat-pump electrification and data-centre demand compete for constrained network capacity.
Water reform and regeneration add further delivery routes
Water infrastructure formed another part of Burnham’s programme. The Government confirmed that a strengthened Water Bill will remove existing restrictions on government ownership of shares in major water and sewerage companies in England and give ministers greater scope to intervene where companies fail to meet public and environmental objectives. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said the change forms part of a longer-term shift towards stronger public control. Burnham described the policy as the start of a 10-year journey for the water sector, with mayors expected to receive additional oversight powers.
For construction, ownership reform and infrastructure investment are separate issues. Tuesday’s announcement did not allocate new construction contracts, but future water-sector capital programmes will continue to determine demand across treatment works, reservoirs, sewer upgrades, drainage, pipelines and associated civil engineering. The importance of coordinating utilities with development has already been examined in LCM’s analysis of infrastructure delivery constraints, where power, water, drainage and transport capacity can determine whether consented development progresses into construction.
A separate regeneration programme announced four days before the conference speech already carries a defined funding allocation. The Government’s £210m high-street package includes a £125m Derelict Buildings Fund intended to help local authorities convert vacant shopping centres, cinemas and other unused buildings into new commercial, civic, health and community uses.
Burnham sets out options for closer UK-EU relationship
Burnham also used the speech to reopen the debate over Britain’s long-term economic relationship with the European Union. He said “Brexit has done more harm than good” and confirmed that different options for the UK’s future relationship with European partners will be set out around the next UK-EU summit.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan subsequently welcomed Burnham’s intervention in a post on X, arguing that leaving the EU had damaged living standards, businesses and economic growth in London and across the country. The Government has not yet selected or announced the future UK-EU model Burnham referred to. For construction, any eventual agreement could become relevant to trade, investment and workforce arrangements, but Tuesday’s speech did not announce a construction-specific change to current UK-EU rules.
What construction needs to watch next
The key distinction after the conference speech is between programmes already moving through funded delivery and longer-term policy commitments. The £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme, Great British Grid announcement and £210m regeneration package now have identifiable government delivery structures; other elements, including parts of the water, housing and UK-EU programme, still require further legislation or detailed policy development. Burnham said the Government will publish a wider 10-year plan for Britain later in 2026. For the construction industry, the next test will be how that plan converts the housing, grid, water and regeneration commitments into funded projects, procurement routes, programmes and construction starts.
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Expert Verification & Authorship: Mihai Chelmus Founder & Editor, London Construction Magazine | Construction Testing & Investigation Specialist |