The Budget and the Construction Industry

The Chancellor’s Autumn Budget and Spending Review was announced on 27 October, with a focus on "investing in strong public services, driving economic growth, leading the transition to net-zero and supporting people and businesses".

For building safety in the construction industry there was a further £5 billion for works to remediate unsafe cladding and confirmation of the rate of the proposed new Residential Property Developers tax – 4%.

One of the Budget’s key themes relevant to the construction industry was “Building Back Greener” to meet the UK’s Net Zero Strategy and the aim of achieving net zero emissions by 2050. Spending pledges focussed on the decarbonisation of infrastructure and transport, energy security, biodiversity and green job creation, including:

• £3.9 billion investment in the decarbonisation of buildings, half of which is committed to supporting low-income household become more energy efficient;
• significant investment in public transport, £620 million towards the transition to electric vehicles (including investment in electric charging points grants) and £817 million investment in the electrification of vehicles and supply chains;
• investment in new technology, including in low-carbon technology and a £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio;
• investment in renewable energy, including nuclear and wind, and in carbon capture and storage; and
• increasing the Nature for Climate Fund to over £750 million by 2024-2025 to support biodiversity.

The government has also underlined its intention to spread this investment across the UK and has flagged that many of the proposed new green jobs will be based in “the industrial heartlands in Northern England, Scotland and Wales”.