CPA Weekly Notes – 26th June 2026

Issue No. 1207, 26th June 2026 FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Association Activities

Sponsor the CPA Autumn Lunch 2026
Preparations are now underway for our Autumn Lunch 2026, which will take place at the Brewery on the 5th of November. Tickets will go on sale later in the summer, but we are already looking for sponsors to help support this special event. If your company would be interested in becoming a sponsor, please take a look at the sponsorship form and get in touch with Fabi for more information.

CPA Gives Evidence to Lords Committee
Rebecca Larkin, CPA, Head of Construction Research gave evidence this week to the Built Environment Commitee, New Towns: Bricks and Mortar. The recording of the session can be found here.

Weekly CPA Meeting Calendar

Peter Caplehorn, CPA CEO, is attending the TAC and Affiliates meeting
Amanda Long, CPA Deputy CEO, will be meeting with DBT officials in relation to the planned Steel Tariffs and Quotas on behalf of the CLC. Amanda will also be co-chairing a cross industry workshop on construction product reforms in conjunction with MHCLG.
Noble Francis, CPA Economics Director, will be attending the CPA TAC and Affiliates meeting and the CIPS Global Disruption Procurement Directors Meeting.
Jane Thornback CPA, Sustainability Policy advisor will meet with Defra’s Head of Circular Economy Strategy, and with DBT on Green Construction Board matters.
Mark Wilkinson, CPA Technical Manager, will be attending a meeting at the BSI -EC approach to environmental essential characteristics under the CPR. A meeting with the OPSS and the FHH meeting with FHS Fabric.
Rebecca Larkin, CPA, Head of Construction Research, is presenting to the CFA Manufacturers/Distributors Committee

Economics Update

CPA Weekly UK Economic and Construction Update
The latest weekly update can be found here it includes:

Insolvency Service UK Construction Insolvencies (April 2026)
MHCLG Housing Starts and Completions (2026 Q1)

The CPA’s Spring Forecasts were published on 5th May and can be found here.
The State of Trade Survey 2025 Q4 was published on 14th May and can be found here.of Trade Survey 2025 Q4 was published on 14th May and can be found here.und here.

Government Update

Plug‐In Solar Panels

The Government has opened a consultation on plans to make ‘plug‐in’ solar PV units available for self‐installation in UK homes The deadline for responses is 30th June. The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), Electrical Safety First (ESF), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), NICEIC and SELECT have issued a joint statement warning of risks to public safety if they are introduced to the market without the necessary regulatory framework in place. The statement can be found here and the consultation itself can be accessed here.

Call for Evidence on the Built Environment Professions, Trades and Occupations
MHCLG has a Call for evidence: Strategy for the built environment, professions, trades and occupations(published May 2026).
The call for evidence is designed to gather information about the key factors that influence how people work across all stages of the building lifecycle and covers all building types. Submissions to the call will inform development of a new strategy for the built environment professions, trades and occupations.
The two webinars are open to the public and will:

Explain the aims of the government’s new long-term strategy for the built environment professions, trades and occupations.
Set out the purpose, scope, and structure of the call for evidence.
Take questions about the call for evidence.
The Call for evidence will close 12 August 2026.

GSR and White Paper Consultations
The CPA has made a number of submissions on the current consultations including coordinating the response for the Construction Leadership Council, and direct CPA a responses from the Technical Committee, The Sustainability Group. Hanna Clarke, CPA Digital Manager has also submitted a response from SLG 5 competence.

CPA Consultation Tracker
With an increasing number of consultations being launched by government, the CPA has launched a tracker with those consultations that are relevant to CPA membership. It can be found for members here.
New consultations will still be reported the Weekly Notes for a limited time.

Industry News

BDO – Building Products & Services – Sector Insights 2026
BDO have released their latest report on Building Products and Services it can be accessed here. There is also an accompanying webinar here.

British standard on construction products competence published for public consultation
BS 8670-2 Built environment – Core criteria for construction product competence – Code of Practice has been published for public comment this week, closing 13 July. The standard aims to bring consistency across all how all disciplines working with construction products and product information throughout its life cycle. It does this by describing the core principals that should be included in all competence frameworks, training and qualifications. It also may impact how organisations delegate responsibilities with construction products in the organisations and their supply chain.
BS 8670-2 originates from the white paper that CPA published on behalf of WG 12 – Construction Products Competence – that has since been superseded by SLG 5 – Construction Products Manufacturers under the Industry Competence Steering Group, and has contributions from much of the CPA membership and colleagues across the Industry Competence Steering Group.
BS 8670-2 is available for comment here.

CPA in the News

Poll shows construction professionals believe Brexit was wrong
However, Construction Products Association economics director Noble Francis said Britain’s departure from the EU was not the primary cause of the decline.
“The majority of the loss of skilled construction workers in the UK since 2019 Q1 has not been due to Brexit,” he said. “It has been [from] the older demographic of UK-born construction workers, specifically those between 50 and 64 years old.”
Europe Says| 23/06/2026 | online

‘Constant flow’ of new towns needed if products sector is to ramp up capacity, Lords told
Rebecca Larkin, head of construction research at the Construction Products Association, said that “early engagement with the supply chain is absolutely key” to the success of the government’s proposed programme of new urban developments. But she emphasised that “it does have to be a constant pipeline”, explaining that “the industry has been so disappointed over decades of major projects or major schemes of projects not coming through, it’s easy to lose confidence in large government announcements about new towns.”
Building| 23/06/2026 | online
Also in Housing Today

Price Volatility Challenge
The latest CPA forecast points to another difficult year for new build, with housing starts and completions both set to fall. But while lower demand presents obvious challenges, price volatility poses an even greater threat to installer profitability.
The latest Construction Products Association forecast makes for difficult reading. Private housing output is forecast to fall by 7% in 2026, with housing starts down 10% and completions falling by 6%, as higher borrowing costs, weaker buyer confidence and ongoing planning challenges continue to weigh on the market. The CPA rather unreassuringly describing it as a “perfect storm” for housebuilders, with recovery not expected until 2027 at the earliest.
Vision Magazine| 22/06/2026 | online

NMBS Conference aims to go beyond the expected
This year’s theme, Beyond the Expected, set the tone for a programme focused on practical insight and real‑world application. On the first day, delegates heard from speakers including Professor Damien Hughes, the Construction Products Association’s Noble Francis, and Ken Hughes, a Keynote Speaker on Consumer Behavior & Innovation, as well as Tradeaze’s Jack Hopkins, and AI specialist Jonathan Bein, and Stuart Barker, who brought military leadership perspective to the topic of cyber security.
BMJ| 12/06/2026 | online

A rallying call to the industry
The Construction Products Association’s latest forecasts, just released by CAB to its members, highlight the real scale of the crisis. In 2026, private housing volumes are predicted to fall 7%, with repair and maintenance down 3%, and the commercial sector down 3.7%. Things are not expected to stabilise until 2027, but even then, any growth next year is likely to be limited to between 1 and 2%.
Glass Times| 17/06/2026 | online

Building material deliveries continue to fall
Rebecca Larkin, head of construction research at the Construction Products Association, said demand in April was “noticeably subdued”. She told Construction News: “Although deliveries of bricks and blocks both improved compared to March, due to better weather, deliveries were lower than a year earlier, reflecting the caution shown by housebuilders in starting new work. Further falls in production and deliveries recorded in other materials such as slate, ready-mix concrete and sand & gravel point to lingering weakness beyond house building, in non-residential sectors of construction such as commercial and industrial.”
Construction News| 03/06/2026 | online