Construction consultant Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB UK) reports that the chancellor’s recent UK budget statement has had negligible effect on its construction tender price forecasts. Existing projections for 2024–2025 inflation in building and infrastructure costs, driven mainly by labour availability, materials volatility and supply-chain capacity, remain largely unchanged. Contractors and clients should therefore plan on previously signalled cost trajectories rather than expecting short-term budget-driven relief in bid prices.

Urban regeneration specialist Ballymore and Slovakian developer Penta Real Estate have formed a 50/50 joint venture to deliver more than 680 homes across two London schemes with a combined GDV exceeding £700m. The Cuba Street project comprises a 52-storey residential tower adjacent to Canary Wharf, while The Capston, the final phase of Ballymore’s Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms, will provide 247 apartments in two blocks of 11 and 22 storeys. Both schemes have planning consent and are already under construction, signalling continued high-rise residential demand despite a tight funding environment.

More than 30 construction workers have been suspended from Johnson Matthey’s £80m, government-backed hydrogen gigafactory site in Hertfordshire after refusing to work under what Unite describes as worsening dangerous conditions. Alleged breaches include no running water or heating, lack of cold-weather PPE, and inadequate ventilation while grinding paint containing carcinogens, with the site already shut for two weeks over health and safety concerns and Unite linking the situation to two suicides. Johnson Matthey, and contractors BGEN and Bilfinger, reject the claims, while Unite is pressing for immediate HSE intervention and site access.