King’s Speech highlights

Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill

Take targeted action on the construction sector to ban the practice of deducting and withholding retention payments under construction
contracts. Consulting on its implementation.

Other changes will include a new 60-day cap on payment terms on all large firms when paying smaller suppliers. New mandatory interest on late payments will also be introduced, with a requirement for all commercial contracts to include statutory interest set at 8% above the Bank of England base rate.

Introduce a time limit for raising invoice disputes, before payment is due.

Remediation Bill

Laws to require landlords of buildings 18m or more in height with unsafe cladding to complete remediation by the end of 2029. The law will also set a 2031 cladding remediation deadline for owners of buildings 11-18m in height.

Under the new legislation, those failing to comply face unlimited fines or imprisonment.

The Bill will include measures to make construction product manufacturers pay towards fixing the problem they caused, by fixing long-standing gaps in the law and ending years of inaction. For the first time developers, contractors who have paid to make buildings safe will be able to properly
pursue manufacturers, rather than being blocked by technical legal barriers.

It will also implement a remediation backstop to allow a third party, such as Homes England, to step in and carry out remediation work themselves,
ensuring that residents have a route to remediation even where the responsible party is determined to ignore their duty to keep residents
safe. This will be backed by tough sanctions so they cannot benefit, including cost recovery and potential sale of their interest

Social Housing Renewal Bill

Protect existing social housing stock and incentivise the building of more social homes. New Right to Buy measures will increase the eligibility requirement to 10 years, amend percentage discounts to better align with new maximum cash discounts and exempt newly built social housing for 35 years.

Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill

Pushes ahead with leasehold reform, including moves to cap ground rents and shift more flats towards commonhold ownership. It will ban  use of leasehold for new flats to ensure that in future commonhold is the default tenure for flatted development.

Highways (Financing) Bill

Introduces a new Regulated Asset Base (RAB) funding model to unlock greater levels of private investment in road infrastructure. The  Lower Thames Crossing will be the first road scheme to use this model.

Clean Water Bill

The bill would legislate to clean up the water industry and improve critical water infrastructure after years of pressure over sewage spills, pollution and under-investment. For construction, this means a bigger regulated pipeline of treatment works, network upgrades, reservoirs and environmental improvement schemes as water companies face tougher duties and oversight.

Railways and Passenger Benefits Bill

Establishes Great British Railways and pushes ahead with rail reform by bringing track and train planning under a more unified structure. For contractors and suppliers, the key issue will be whether the new body gives the industry a clearer, longer-term investment programme rather than the stop-start workload that has hit parts of the rail supply chain.

Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill

The bill gives Government power to transfer steel undertakings into public ownership where a public interest test is met, with British Steel the clear immediate target. Ministers say the move is designed to safeguard domestic steelmaking capacity, protect jobs and supply chains, and secure steel for critical sectors including infrastructure, defence and clean energy.

Northern Powerhouse Rail Bill

This is intended to provide the legal route for Northern Powerhouse Rail, giving statutory backing to faster and more frequent rail links across the North of England. The Government is pitching the measure as part of its drive to deliver major infrastructure and improve regional connectivity, giving rail contractors and suppliers a clearer route to future work.