Published Tuesday 14 July 2026 · By the JustEng team
Market data, a major planning shake-up and a landmark court ruling on HS2 lead today’s UK engineering and construction briefing.
Construction starts slump deepens in Q2
Analysis published on 11 July asks whether UK construction is stuck in a rut, with the value of work starting on site falling 15% during the second quarter to finish around 38% down on 2025 levels, while the June construction PMI reading of 38.4 signals a sector still contracting sharply (Premier Construction News). Residential schemes led the decline, although office, education and healthcare work held up better. Hiring angle: with residential developers pausing, civil and structural engineers are pivoting towards infrastructure, data centres and public-sector frameworks where workload remains firmest.
Planning rules overhauled to speed up infrastructure
The Government has confirmed a major overhaul of planning rules under the Planning and Infrastructure Act, removing the mandatory pre-application consultation stage for nationally significant infrastructure projects — a change ministers say could cut approval timelines by up to 12 months (GOV.UK). The reforms sit alongside a wider delivery push, with 41 major project decisions already made this Parliament. Hiring angle: faster consenting typically pulls forward demand for planning-literate civil engineers, environmental specialists and design managers well before spades hit the ground.
1.2GW of new solar capacity approved
Development consent orders have been granted for three major solar schemes totalling around 1.2GW: the 740MW One Earth Solar Park near Lincoln, the 320MW Peartree Hill Solar Park in East Yorkshire and the 150MW Dean Moor Solar Park in West Cumbria (Enerdata). Hiring angle: utility-scale solar keeps demand strong for geotechnical, drainage and grid-connection engineers across the East Midlands, Yorkshire and Cumbria.
HS2 loses Court of Appeal battle over Bromford Tunnel
The Court of Appeal has ruled that doubling the Bromford Tunnel in Birmingham from 2.9km to 5.8km did not benefit from deemed planning permission under the HS2 Act and required its own environmental impact assessment, although the court declined to quash the decision given construction is substantially complete (New Civil Engineer). Hiring angle: expect closer scrutiny of scheme changes on major projects, and with it demand for EIA, consents and tunnelling engineering expertise.
Skills gap: 41,000 extra workers needed every year
The sector will require an average of more than 41,000 additional workers each year over the next five years to deliver planned housing, infrastructure and regeneration, with the CITB projecting a workforce of around 2.68 million by 2030 (O’Neill & Brennan). Hiring angle: even in a contracting market, structural shortages are keeping salaries resilient for experienced engineers — see our structural engineer salary guide or browse the latest engineering jobs.
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