The Week That Was - 28 March 2025

Welcome to the week that was, a round-up of key events in the construction sector over the last seven days.

The impact of the 2025 Spring Statement on construction 

During the 2025 spring statement on Wednesday, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a £600m package that is ear marked for training 60,000 construction workers. 

In addition, she announced that £2bn will be invested in building 18,000 social houses.  This aims to close the widening gap between available social housing and demand. 
 
The RICS CEO, Justin Young, expressed his pleasure at these measures and the positive impact they will have on the construction industry.  

This statement is in line with the Government's manifesto promise of building 1.5m homes within 5 years, which will not be possible without addressing the shortage of skilled construction workers engineers, electricians and carpenters. 

To read more, please click here. 

Worsening Road Conditions Despite £20 Billion Investment 

The 2025 Annual Local Authority Road Maintenance survey report has revealed that 34,600 miles of roads have less than five years' structural life remaining, despite over £20 billion having been spent on carriageway maintenance in England and Wales over the last decade. 

The report records that the current policy mindset has been to remedy long periods of underfunding with short-term cash injections. 

However, David Giles, Chair of the Asphalt Industry Alliance, has emphasised that the only solution to the worsening situation is to shift the current policy attitude radically.  He considers that the Government needs to adopt longer-term funding commitments. 

He suggests that, as a starting point, there must be "a minimum five-year funding horizon, and a substantial and sustained increase in budgets ring-fenced specifically for local road maintenance."

To read more, click here.

£600m scheme to revamp Euston Tower given the go ahead

Camden Council has granted planning permission for British Land to undertake a complete overhaul to the 31-storey 90's built building in central London, known as Euston Tower. 

The plans include restaurant and café spaces, as well as designating areas for local entrepreneurs and start-ups.  The project team consists of Gardiner & Theobald as the QS and project manager, Adamson as the executive architect, Gerald Eve as the planning consultant, Buro Happold, GXN as sustainability consultants and Arup as M&E consultants. 

Can the construction industry keep up with the demand for data centres?

Contractors are facing significant challenges in keeping up with the growing demand for data centres, both new and retrofitted.  Since 2023, demand for new data centres has surged by 300%, and the retrofit market is also expanding rapidly. 

It appears that the supply chain is struggling to keep up with such unprecedented demand.  Research by Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) reveals that 70% of data centre specialists believe the supply chain is struggling, with 53% concerned about meeting capacity demands. 

The RLB report highlights the importance of strategic planning, integrating data throughout project lifecycles, and managing supply chain risks.  Recommendations include proactive planning, early supplier engagement, and investing in scalable, sustainable infrastructure.  Collaboration and innovation are essential to overcoming these challenges and ensuring a resilient future for data centres.

Find out more here or read the full report here.

Lack of Records Complicates Cladding Group Administration

M Price Limited (MPL), a cladding specialist, went into administration in August 2023 due to an inability to pay back an emergency Covid loan.  Subsequently, a number of claims have been brought against MPL by trade creditors.  They are seeking to recover a total of £49.7m. 

However, the administrators have revealed that the provision of "almost no records" from the former MPL directors have rendered Seneca IP "unable to adequately determine whether to challenge or reject claims". 

None of the unsecured creditors are expected to receive any money through the administration process. 

MPL's administration highlights the severity of the "forgotten debt burden" being carried by the industry as a result of loans issued under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).  Given that only thirty-seven percent of CBILS loans have been repaid, creditors should be prepared to face continuing difficulties recovering their owed sums.

To read more, click here.

Importance of clear allocation of risk emphasised by the Court

In John Sisk and Sons Ltd v Capital & Centric (Rose) Ltd [2025] EWHC 594 (TCC), the Court has considered terms regarding responsibility for existing structures. 

The contract, a JCT Design and Building Contract 2016 Edition with bespoke amendments, stated that the Claimant was responsible for all risks, including existing structures, but this was subject to "item 2 of the Clarifications" in the Employer's Requirements.  Item 2 clearly specified that the Defendant was responsible for insuring existing buildings and works. 

A dispute arose over whether "Clarifications" also included the tender submission clarifications in which the position was less clear. 

The Judge interpreted the contract as referring only to the "Contract Clarification" document and concluded that the Defendant had accepted the contractual risk for existing structures. 

This judgment underscored the importance of clear and unambiguous language in contract drafting, particularly regarding risk allocation.

You can read the full judgment here.

With thanks to:  Ella Green, Olivia Bradfield and Dan Goh.

Disclaimer: The information in this publication is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  We attempt to ensure that the content is current as at the date of publication, but we do not guarantee that it remains up to date.  You should seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content.