It is hoped that yesterday’s Autumn Budget will set the tone for growth and transformation across the built environment. The Chancellor confirmed continued investment in major infrastructure projects, including Sizewell C, the Lower Thames Crossing, and regional regeneration initiatives. 

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) strongly supported the Construction Leadership Council’s pre-budget letter urging Government to accelerate the adoption of spatial infrastructure, boost planning resources and strengthen policies on retrofit and housing. These measures would unlock investment, improve productivity, and provide stability across the construction ecosystem. Additionally, we support measures to develop skills in areas that experience shortfalls. We would like this to include the landscape sector, which is integral in the delivery of built environment projects.

Housing remains a priority and CIC welcomes measures to support local authorities in accelerating social housing and addressing planning bottlenecks by providing the funding to recruit 350 extra planners in England. Alongside this, £13 billion will be devolved to local mayors for skills development and infrastructure projects, helping to strengthen the construction workforce. From April 2026, the minimum wage for apprentices will rise by 6%, further supporting talent development. CIC also welcomes the government’s decision to reform the Landfill tax. 

However, it was disappointing not to see any incentives to support first time buyers which would help stimulate movement in the housing market.

Critically, many of Government’s plans on housing, infrastructure, employment and energy security rely on the construction sector to deliver.  Although the Government has made solid spending commitments, recent research indicates that the construction workforce has fallen to its lowest proportion of total UK employment in over 100 years, which could consequently hamper ambitions. Further increases in National Insurance have thankfully been ruled out but industry will still have to address the tension between any potential drag on recruitment through an increased minimum wage with the need to ensure that construction pays entrants enough to make it a viable career choice given cost of living increases.

CIC Chief Executive Graham Watts said of the budget, “In many ways the Autumn Budget was a damp squib, not least because all of it was known before the Chancellor spoke! For the construction sector, although there were lots of absences from the industry’s asks, it was probably less damaging than it could have been and there was some good news.”