How will the Budget affect the construction industry?

March 2020

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget 2020 revealed a host of investments in the roads, railways, and digital networks that will underpin growth over the coming decade.

Sunak committed to providing £200 million for local communities to build flood resilience and will double investment in flood defences over the next six years to £5.2 billion.

In total, around £640 billion will be invested in roads, railways, communications, schools, hospitals, and power networks across the UK by 2024-25.

The Government revealed it will publish a National Infrastructure Strategy later in the spring, and the CSR will provide full departmental spending plans.

Budget 2020 building commitments include:

• £27 billion investment between 2020 and 2025 in English strategic roads.
• £5.2 billion for flood defences between 2021 and 2027, with an additional £200 million for communities most at risk of flooding to recover faster.
• A £10.9 billion increase in housing investment to support the commitment to build at least 1 million new homes by the end of the Parliament.
• A five-year £1.5 billion investment to refurbish further education colleges.
• £12.2 billion for the Affordable Homes Programme and £400 million for housing on brownfield sites.
• £1.1 billion allocations from the Housing Infrastructure Fund for nine different areas including Manchester, and South Sunderland.
• An additional £1 billion to remove unsafe cladding from residential buildings more than 18 metres high.
• A review of the Green Book that sets out how decisions on major investment programmes are appraised.
• A Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund to establish CCS in at least two UK sites
• Introduction of a Green Gas Levy to help fund the use of greener fuels
• Investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure to provide £532 million for consumer incentives for ultra-low emission vehicles
• Doubling the size of the Energy Innovation Programme.
• Support for the installation of heat pumps and biomass boilers by introducing a Low Carbon Heat Support Scheme.