Budget 2026 has added £1.5bn to England's Social and Affordable Homes Programme, but the Office for Budget Responsibility has cut its cumulative housing-supply forecast by 190,000 net additions compared with March. The Budget document published by HM Treasury puts new money into social housing, launches a £4.7bn first-time buyer scheme, eases some development rules and gives strategic da…
More leaseholders could be protected from the cost of fixing historic fire-safety defects under proposals announced as the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill reaches its second reading in the House of Commons. The measures announced on 27 October would extend financial protection to some owners who currently fall outside the Building Safety Act 2022 regime, including le…
Sir Robert McAlpine has been awarded the £133m main works contract for the Bank of England's refurbishment of its Grade I-listed Threadneedle Street headquarters in the City of London. The Find a Tender award notice , published on 26 October, confirms McAlpine as main contractor for the Bank's Location Strategy Main Works. The contract is scheduled to run through to 19 November 2030. …
About 211 households were moved out of three residential blocks at Royal Gateway in Canning Town in the early hours of Friday 23 October, after engineers found a cracked transfer slab beneath the buildings. Managing agent Prime Property Management said there was an imminent risk to life associated with a transfer slab beneath the buildings . The three blocks are Sovereign Tower, Centurion Tower…
Two major south London regeneration programmes have been pushed back within days of each other, with British Land reportedly pausing the next phase of Canada Water and Landsec placing its Lewisham Shopping Centre redevelopment on hold. The decisions affect schemes that had both been expected to move into further construction from 2027. They also add to mounting evidence that London is struggl…
London construction sites are forecast to get a drier working window from Wednesday 28 October after a wet start to the week, with the Met Office currently showing dry or sunny conditions across the capital through much of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The improvement follows the back-to-back passage of Storms Austen and Boelo. Monday will still begin wet and Tuesday brings another period o…
