When Angela Rayner was appointed as secretary of state for the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, she arguably took on the broadest brief and largest to-do list facing all cabinet ministers. The implementation of the Building Safety Act, an urgent need for government to revisit and reform planning policies, and a structural rethink about how the construction sector as a whole operates and accounts for its responsibilities and liabilities in the wake of the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations all needed to be tackled.

So, it was perhaps bullish at best, fool hardy at worst for the Deputy Prime Minister to also stake her success on the delivery of 1.5 million homes within a single five year parliament term.

The construction sector is navigating through some significant and era defining legislation and Acts of Parliament that are designed to instigate a far-reaching culture change within the industry and a fresh approach to the homes, towns, cities and buildings we create in the 21st Century.

There are also a lot of opinions throughout the sector on what can be achieved, what needs to be looked at again and the short-term impact of these new reforms.

The Grenfell disaster of 2017 was of course a wakeup call for an industry that had focused for too long on ‘cost effectiveness’, and the long running but illuminating Inquiry has provided the catalyst for a fundamental change in the way buildings are built and maintained.

Recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry

At the end of February this year, the UK Government announced that it would take forward all 58 recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry’s 1,700 page report, published in September 2024.

The recommendations being taken forward include tougher oversight of existing testing and certifying bodies operating in construction, and designed to drive higher standards in building safety and fire safety.

Most significantly is the intent to introduce a single construction industry regulator, coming into effect from 2028.

In addition, a Chief Construction Adviser will be appointed to provide a better, more knowledgeable link between ministers and the industry.

As part of adopting the recommendations the government has set out the following timetable to introduce the reforms:

Phase one (2025-2026): “Making sure that we effectively deliver our current programme of regulatory reform and change”. This is understood to relate to solving the teething problems experienced by the Building Safety Regulator, as well as implementing reforms to the Approved Development Document regime.

Phase two (2026-2028): This phase will focus on “having fully developed proposals to deliver recommendations and wider reform”. In other words, turning the Grenfell phase two report recommendations into regulations, guidance and law.

Phase three (2028 onwards): The government will begin the process of implementing the reforms.

Introduction of single Construction Regulator

A new single construction regulator that will be responsible for building safety, will be given a broad range of sweeping powers that includes:

• Regulation of construction products.

• Development of suitable methods of testing the reaction to fire of materials and products intended for use in construction.

• Testing and certification of such products.

• Issuing certificates of compliance of construction products in line with legislation, statutory guidance and industry standards.

• Regulation and oversight of building control.

• Licensing of contractors to work on higher-risk buildings, monitoring the operation of the building regulations and the statutory guidance, and advising the secretary of state on the need for change.

• Carrying out research on matters affecting fire safety in the built environment.

• Collecting information, both in this country and abroad, on matters affecting fire safety, and exchanging information with the fire and rescue services on matters affecting fire safety.

• Accrediting fire risk assessors.

The regulator will also be responsible for maintaining a publicly available library of test data and publications.

The approach has been welcomed by notable construction industry leaders including barrister and former chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group, Rudi Klein.

Speaking in Construction News, Klein says:

“It is extremely gratifying that the government has accepted the recommendation for a construction regulator, albeit implantation is delayed until 2028.

“The construction regulator should report directly to Parliament and not, as currently proposed, to the secretary of state.”

Reform of the construction product regulation regime

The Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government has been quick to publish a green paper on reforms to the regime for regulating construction product safety, which can be read in full here.

The green paper sets out 11 proposals to develop:

1 – Comprehensive regulatory coverage

2 – Mandatory compliance for products with designated standards

3 – Improved enforcement mechanisms

4 – Enhanced product information and transparency

5 – Digital solutions for enhanced traceability

6 – Strengthening third-party testing and certification

7 – Enhanced coordination amongst regulatory bodies

8 – Sustainability and environmental considerations

9 – A strengthened accountability framework

10 -Strengthened route to redress

11 – Continuous improvement and adaption

The proposed reforms outlined in the green paper represent a significant step toward creating a robust regulatory framework for construction products. By addressing the identified gaps in the current system, the government aims to ensure that all construction products are safe and used safely, that manufacturers and other stakeholders act responsibly, and that affected communities have access to justice they deserve.

The government is accepting responses and feedback on the paper up to 21^st May 2025 before proceeding to the next phase of legislative development.

It should also be noted that the National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP) was established in 2021, operating under the Office for Product Safety and Standards and is looking to uphold construction product standards under existing regulations. This may in time be phased out or subsumed by the new regime.

Building Safety Act 2022

The Building Safety Act gained Royal Accession in 2022 and is now coming into effect across the industry.

The significance of the Act cannot be understated. It is designed to drive cultural change throughout the construction sector from design to delivery of projects, and as a result is taking a while to ingratiate itself into the industry as the sector comes to grips with the new requirements, a new language and the need to adopt a different approach to project management and completion.

At a recent Constructing Excellence event in Manchester, adapting to the requirements of the Act was described as ‘learning a new science’, with the first case studies and interpretations of the Act’s requirements still working their way through the system. It has been widely reported that the Act is slowing down overall progress of projects in a number of ways, but we can focus on one example as set out by Turner and Townsend.

The buildings identified by the Act as High Risk Buildings (HRB) – over 18 metres in height or with more than seven storeys – can also include an ‘independent section’, usually a part of the building set aside for street level commercial space that can adhere to different rules to the rest of the building. However, if this independent section is linked in to the same building services systems (HVAC, Water and Electric) as the residential parts of the building, they have to take a different approach, operating back under the HRB requirements.

At the very least the Act will require greater communication and paperwork at every stage as different parties constructing a building will have to work more closely together to problem solve and deliver a building that meets the requirements of the Act and incoming regulation.

The Building Safety Regulator

The industry is already operating under the Building Safety Regulator, launched in 2021 to oversee the safety and performance of all buildings particularly higher-risk structures. The single regulator is designed to remove the fragmentation of oversight that had developed in the run up to the Grenfell Disaster.

Planning reforms

The next section focuses on what the Government is doing to reform the planning process and policy that had led to lengthy delays on decisions, costly application processes and a system that had for all intents and purposes ground to a halt in many vital areas of the country.

In March, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill was introduced to have a far-reaching reform of planning, introducing a new strategic planning system across England.

Led by Angela Rayner, who is aiming to stare down the naysayers, and to break through a culture of ‘it can’t be be done’ that has slowed down decisions throughout the planning system.

“We’re creating the biggest building boom in a generation – as a major step forward in getting Britain building again and unleashing economic growth in every corner of the country, by lifting the bureaucratic burden which has been holding back developments for too long.

“The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will unleash seismic reforms to help builders get shovels in the ground quicker to build more homes, and the vital infrastructure we need to improve transport links and make Britain a clean energy superpower to protect billpayers.”

Housing Today set out the radical approach of the bill:

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill will introduce a national scheme of delegation, previously mooted by the government, setting out which types of applications should be determined by planning officers and which should go to committee.

The scheme will also set out controls over the size of planning committees, mandate training for committee members, and empower councils to set their own planning fees to invest in the “over-stretched” system.

In addition, the bill will introduce a system of ‘spatial development strategies’, which will introduce strategic planning across England with multiple local planning authorities working together to meet development and infrastructure needs. 

These plans will be produced by regional mayors, or in some cases by local authorities.

Rayner has also pledged to allow planning officers to approve applications without input from committees if the plans do comply with local plans and the National Planning Policy Framework.

An era of seismic change – and a gamble for the government

Not since the post-war reconstruction boom has a UK Government of the day attempted such far reaching intervention into the way the construction sector and the accompanying fields of practice operates, from planning to law to local government.

The reforms in building safety, accountability and planning could be the long overdue reset the construction sector needs to bring it into the 21^st Century, put behind it the practices that culminated in the Grenfell disaster, and set the framework for a construction revolution for a greener, safer, higher quality, lower emission built environment for future generations to enjoy.

But there are huge obstacles in the here and now that threaten these reforms out of the gate.

Firstly, the new reforms don’t do much for the existing housing stock that is already in the system, where industry experts are already highlighting the huge retrofit challenge the government will need to lead on if it has any chance of reaching its legal obligation target of Net Zero by 2050.

Secondly, at every step and level of the industry that these new Acts, regulations and proposed Bills touch, there are acute skills shortages that will hamper efforts to roll out new regimes.

Only last year as the previous government left office, the building safety control regime had to receive emergency extensions to deadlines as less than two thirds of Building Control inspectors had the right competence certification under the new building safety regime.

This is a story that is likely to be repeated in other parts of the sector.

Finally, the government has set itself a very steep timetable for legislation to pass through Parliament, oversight and scrutiny of committees and the Lords to reach Royal Assent, and is setting similar targets for the fragmented, multi-faceted construction industry to follow suit in adoption. There is little margin for error.

Even then there has been criticism that behind the announcements, the actual delivery targets are underwhelming in terms of building safety, or unachievable in terms of housing targets. Chancellor Reeves announced a further £2bn in funding for affordable/social housing as part of the Spring Statement, but this will add only 18,000 homes –  a tiny percentage of the wider 1.5 million homes target.

To succeed it feels like this new culture of ‘back the builders, not the blockers’ will need to beat old attitudes at every step of the way to achieve the government’s objectives.