Industry news

Savills has published its January 2026 Big Shed Briefing. It demonstrates improved performance through 2025, but a falling development pipeline.

Greenwashing complaints and enforcement are hitting the logistics sector. 21 airlines have agreed to change their practices on environmental claims to ensure that they aren’t misleading. Contact us for advice on greenwashing and how to protect your business. In related news, the ICC published a new version of its Framework for Responsible Environmental Marketing Communications.

The Autumn 2025 budget confirmed that the government will bring in a new pay-per-mile Electric Vehicle Excise Duty for electric and plug-in hybrid cars, with effect from April 2028. There will also be £100m to support councils in increasing the amount of electric vehicle charging points; £100m for EV charging infrastructure; and the government will consult on a new permitted development right for EV charging. In related news, a review of the cost of public EV charging is expected to report by Q3 2026.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has published its transitional Regional Energy Strategic Plan (tRESP)  to inform investment in electricity distribution networks for the 2028–33 price control period. It’s described as a first step towards improving and coordinating energy infrastructure planning at a local level, ahead of the development of a full Regional Energy Strategic Plan from late 2026.

Forecast energy needs for transport form an important part of the tRESP’s regional energy mapping, with logistics-related energy demand being typically concentrated around ports, freeports, major freight corridors, business parks, industrial estates and logistics hubs.

The expansion of Heathrow Airport is due to be fast-tracked. The government has launched a review of the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) to pave the way for a third runway. The revised ANPS is set to be published for consultation in the summer of 2026.

Decarbonisation

The government has announced funding of £43 million for green aviation projects. It will be allocated via a series of competitions, due to be launched in February, to support research and development projects targeted to net zero delivery.

A High Court decision to dismiss a legal challenge against the expansion of Luton airport has clarified aspects of the Finch Supreme Court ruling on Scope 3 downstream GHG emissions. In the Luton airport case, the airport’s position was that Finch decision doesn’t require assessment of indirect GHG emissions in circumstances where either (a) there’s insufficient information on which to make a reasonable assessment, or (b) where it’s possible to make a judgment, the effects are not significant.

The High Court agreed. The decision will be welcomed for its suggestion that, provided decision-makers properly consider environmental and scientific evidence against appropriate benchmarks, and explain their reasoning, there is a reasonable margin of discretion in how they assess Scope 3 GHG emissions. (See also our Construction and development section for post-Finch planning news.)

The government has published the outcome of its technical consultation on the UK carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM). CBAM will apply from 1 January 2027, initially covering direct emissions only with indirect emissions delayed until 2029 at the earliest. Draft secondary legislation and HMRC guidance are expected before 2027.

The European Council has adopted a regulation to simplify the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). It’s designed to ease administrative burdens and reduce compliance costs. Notably, there’s a new de minimis threshold exempting importers from CBAM obligations for up to 50 tons annually.

Road/rail strategy and freight infrastructure

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) could face a crackdown following a government announcement that it will be the first regulator to be assessed against simplification and streamlining goals under the Regulation Action Plan.

The government has introduced the Railways Bill to establish Great British Railways (GBR) as a new state-owned company responsible for running and coordinating the whole network, including infrastructure and passenger services.

The government has launched its Northern Powerhouse Rail plans (14 January 2026), as part of a new Northern Growth Strategy. Logistics UK welcomed the project, saying it “establishes a clear and deliverable plan for greater rail capacity”.

Network Rail has launched a new property development company, Platform4, to accelerate regeneration and housebuilding on brownfield rail land across England and Wales.

The government has announced £7.3bn in capital funding for local highway maintenance over a four‑year period from 2026–27 to 2029–30. The funding will be distributed regionally and tied to new transparency requirements.

The government has announced £10 million for electric vehicle (EV) charging along the Strategic Road Network. The funding is for technology which will allow EV charging devices to operate without large grid connections or even off-grid.

A consortium believes it may be able to deliver wireless charging while electric vehicles are on the move at motorway speeds. The development is currently under testing at Gustave Eiffel University.

The European Commission has published its transport package, which includes a Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) focusing on renewable and low-carbon fuels for aviation and waterborne transport.

Construction and development

The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 entered into law on 18 December 2025. The government has said the Act “will remove blockages and delays in the planning system, accelerating the construction of tens of thousands of new homes across every region. In addition, it will get dozens of new roads, railway lines, windfarms, and key critical infrastructure built quicker – all while securing a win-win for the environment and the economy.” Government guidance giving an overview of the Act can be found here.

On 16 December, the government launched a consultation on a revamped National Planning Policy Framework. The press release is here. The consultation closes on 10 March. Proposals non-exhaustively include: a rules-based ‘yes’ by default for planning on suitably located proposals; promotion of urban/suburban higher-density redevelopment, upward extensions, and infill schemes; reduced complexity in areas like energy efficiency and Biodiversity Net Gain; BNG revisions for small/brownfield sites; facilitation of mineral extraction; vision-led transport planning; policy changes in relation to data centres and on-site generation; and more.

The Supreme Court’s judgment in Providence v Hexagon is an important one for the construction industry. Click here for our article on this high profile case.

Natural England has announced that it’s preparing 23 Environmental Delivery Plans, 16 relating to nutrient pollution (including one relating to the Somerset Levels) and seven relating to great crested newts, a regularly quoted hindrance to development.

The government has published a revised Environmental Improvement Plan, designed to restore nature, improve environmental quality and security, build a circular economy, and make nature easier for everyone to access.

As part of its updated Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2025, published 1 December, the UK government has announced its first-ever comprehensive plan to manage and reduce the risks from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as ‘forever chemicals’. A full ‘PFAS Plan’ is expected in 2026.

Those operating within the built environment may have noticed an increasing focus on PFAS pollution in land and water. Regulatory reform is on the horizon. In addition, Wyre Council is conducting the country’s first ever multi-agency PFAS-related contaminated land investigation, with results due to be published in early 2026. Commentators are anticipating that results could prompt a variety of environmental remediation, enforcement and litigation action, as well as PFAS contamination investigations elsewhere. North Yorkshire Council has confirmed that regulatory and groundwater investigations are also ongoing in relation to PFAS pollution in High Bentham. The issue is definitely one to watch.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published a global professional standard for the responsible use of AI in surveying. The standard will take effect on 9 March 2026. It sets mandatory requirements and best practices to govern AI use in valuation, construction, infrastructure, and land surveying. Property businesses should undertake a risk analysis; review and update policies, practices, and terms; and educate staff, accordingly.

AI uptake is increasing across the built environment – particularly within construction and development. In our recent article, we look at how you can capitalise on the efficiencies and competitive advantages AI can offer, whilst managing legal and operational risk.

The Planning Inspectorate has completed the national rollout of its new digital appeals service. Local planning authorities will now be able to manage planning appeals online.

Infrastructure developers have welcomed the Treasury’s announcement it will work with the judiciary to speed up judicial reviews when nationally important infrastructure projects are challenged.

The government has launched a new tool that would enable planners to locate development in the most sustainable locations. The new Connectivity Tool covers the whole of England and Wales and combines transport and land use data to generate a connectivity score. The tool is free of charge to all public sector bodies across England and Wales but is currently only available to people working in local or central government who have been granted access to it.

The Guardian reported on 14 Oct 2025 that climate breakdown is making many areas uninsurable. New analysis from the insurance industry reveals that large swathes of housing and commercial property are at risk of devastating floods, storms and rising sea levels, with some homes, businesses and even towns potentially having to be abandoned. Densely populated areas including London, Manchester and parts of north-east England, are likely to be worst hit, but Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire has already become the first in the country to find that its public buildings are uninsurable.

Quintain City Park Gate Birmingham v Sec of State for Transport concerns compensation for compulsory purchase in relation to part of the new HS2 station site. As part of the process for calculating compensation, a site owner can apply to the local planning authority for a ‘certificate of appropriate alternative development’ (CAAD). A CAAD enables the site owner to demonstrate the development value of a site, which it can use in negotiations for compensation. In this case, the parties disagreed over the application of policies relating to the height and massing of the proposed buildings, the total size of floor area, and the requirements for affordable housing within the development and conditions relating to phased development. The Tribunal recognised that there could not be one correct CAAD, but a range of possible alternatives. The reasoning will be helpful for anyone dealing with compulsory purchase and valuation.

We’ve reported previously that the High Court and Court of Appeal had found, in C G Fry v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, that government rules aiming to mitigate the impact of nutrient pollution on protected waterways apply to the final discharge of planning conditions as well as earlier consenting stages. The developer in that case appealed to the Supreme Court to question whether nutrient neutrality rules apply to developments that received planning permission before the introduction of Natural England’s guidance on the issue in 2020. The Supreme Court has now given judgment for the developer…

Whilst the Supreme Court held that the Court of Appeal was correct in its interpretation of the Habitats Regulations, it considered the effect of a grant of outline planning permission, the impact of a policy adopted by the government, and a change of scientific advice bearing on that policy. The council and the inspector in this case had relied on new scientific advice given by Natural England in 2020 to revisit matters which had been approved prior to that, at the outline stage. The Supreme Court therefore confirmed that it wasn’t open to the council or the inspector to refuse to discharge the sub-conditions, thereby effectively preventing development, on the basis of ‘new’ nutrient neutrality rules.

Last year’s landmark Supreme Court ruling in Finch confirmed that applications for major developments should consider all significant direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. However, a recent review of 35 post-Finch proposed intensive farming developments across the UK found that planning applications routinely ignored or downplayed emissions. Planning applications made/approved without the necessary emissions information and analysis will be open to legal challenge.

People in logistics

The Employment Rights Act 2025 is making sweeping changes to UK employment law.  Keep updated on the changes, by timeline format or topic, in our ERA tracker.

The government has announced a £725 million package of reforms to the apprenticeship system to help tackle youth unemployment and drive economic growth.

The UK Material Handling Association has published a paper with advice on how to improve the safety of warehouse operations.