Construction Products Reform Green Paper (UK-wide)
In spring 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) conducted a major consultation on reforming arrangements to place construction materials & products on the market in Great Britain.
The Deputy Prime Minister made a statement in Parliament on 26 February to give HM Government’s response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report. Ministers have accepted 49 recommendations in full - and accepted 9 others in principle that require further consideration and consultation.
The MHCLG consultation ran from February to May 2025 and invited views on proposals to strengthen the regulation and oversight of construction materials & products. Most BMF members will be affected as manufacturers, producers, importers, merchants or distributors.
The proposals respond to (a) recommendations made in the GTI Report and (b) the findings of the Paul Morrell & Anneliese Day Independent Review of Product Testing & Certification. Both these reports found systemic issues and failings by businesses and statutory bodies and call for significant improvements in safety and accountability. HM Government is now committed to bring forward a system-wide reform of the regime for construction materials & products.
The main proposals are:
- implementing a proportionate, risk-based general safety requirement that applies to all currently unregulated construction materials & products.
- that existing regulations need to be enforced with stronger sanctions for those who fail to adhere to standards.
- to empower the National Regulator for Construction Products to conduct routine, proactive market inspections and surveillance to detect unsafe products early.
- to require all materials & products to feature clear, accessible labelling & information that outlines critical safety information.
- to establish a new library for construction materials & products that will serve as a central repository for vital information related to such goods.
- to mandate manufacturers to maintain and provide full test data to the NRCP.
- to introduce mandatory minimum requirements for all third-party certification schemes.
- to increase the oversight of conformity assessment bodies to ensure compliance with these minimum standards.
This major consultation exercise closed on 20 May and the 158-page document is here.
Given the scope & extent of the proposals - and the complex legal, technical & commercial issues raised - we urge BMF members to read it in its entirety. Furthermore, the BMF strongly recommends that our members register with the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI) that strives to raise standards in the marketing of materials & products - and the promotion of accompanying information to be clear, accurate and unambiguous.
Inheritance Tax Business Property Relief
The Chancellor of the Exchequer gave her first Budget to Parliament on 30 October 2024. In it, she announced several unwelcome payroll & business rises - some of which were trailed in advance. The nasty surprise was a change to Inheritance Tax Business Property Relief. Ms Reeves capped this tax relief at £1 million per taxpayer - with Inheritance Tax then charged at 20% on the value in excess of £1 million. This is due to come into force on 6 April 2026.
We began lobbying Whitehall to express our members’ concern - and the collective consequences for our supply chain. Representations were made at the highest level - notably with the Chancellor, Prime Minister and Business Secretary.
The latest research (June 2025) conducted by CBI Economics on behalf of the BMF and Family Business UK highlights the devastating impact of removing Business Property Relief. The overall forecast is for a Gross Value Added reduction of £14.8 billion between October 2024 and April 2030. With 208,500 Full-Time Equivalent jobs put at risk during this period.
We urge BMF members to write to their MP and the Prime Minister to register your strength of feeling against this tax change - and lobby the Chancellor to think again and consult more widely.
Employment Rights Bill (UK-wide)
In October 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister unveiled her new Employment Rights Bill, the most significant overhaul of employment law in decades. This draft legislation sets out 28 individual employment reforms relating to (among others):
- unfair dismissal;
- paternity, parental & bereavement leave;
- statutory sick pay;
- flexible working;
- protection for pregnant women & new mums returning to work;
- new powers to be granted to trade unions (inc. how they organise in companies).
The ERB is on its journey through the Westminster Parliament where MPs and peers are scrutinising it. The Big 5 business groups (CBI, BCC, FSB, IoD and Make UK) are lobbying to remove, mitigate & modify certain clauses. The majority of proposals (when passed by Parliament) will not come into force until 2026 to give employers time to prepare. Several policy aspects will be subject to consultation this year. The implications have been shared with our members at BMF Regional Meetings and Forums since October 2024.
UK Extended Producer Responsibility (UK-wide)
The UK Government and the Devolved Administrations are implementing Extended Producer Responsibility that shifts the full cost of dealing with packaging waste from local authorities & Council Tax payers back onto primary producers - namely manufacturers & importers. EPR places new legal duties on company directors to act - with significant extra specification, familiarisation and conformity costs. BMF members have new compliance obligations that add to your administrative burden.
The way DEFRA has gone about it causes an illogical & unwanted problem regarding intermediaries - namely merchants & distributors. Primary or shipment packaging via intermediaries must be counted as household waste - even if the end-user is a business - namely builders, contractors, installers, etc - unless manufacturers can prove otherwise with suitable evidence.
This is wholly unsatisfactory and the £££ implications are huge - because manufacturers cannot prove that trade customers of merchants will dispose of b2b packaging properly. It has been raised with DEFRA ministers & officials to find a ‘work around’ while joint efforts continue to find a long-term solution.
Bonfield Review of Property Level Flood Resilience
In January 2025, the Environment Agency - prompted by DEFRA Floods Minister Emma Hardy MP - commissioned a new Independent Review of Property Flood Resilience - led by Professor Peter Bonfield.
Prof. Bonfield has asked the BMF to serve on this Review, with other property professionals and financial services’ providers (e.g. insurers & mortgage lenders) to advise on what can be done (a) to prepare for flood risk and (b) to help in the immediate aftermath. For the BMF, it means offering practical advice & specialist knowledge of materials, products & systems currently available.
The review is 6 months’ long leading to Flood Awareness Week in w/c 13 October 2025, and is now available to read here. Full details including terms of reference can be found here on the UK Government website.
Future Homes and Future Buildings Standard (England)
Prior to the General Election, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government conducted a second consultation on proposals called the Future Homes Standard (homes) and Future Buildings Standard (commercial & other buildings) to improve thermal & energy efficiency and to switch to renewable heat.
The majority of ideas relate to new homes and non-residential buildings. This consultation and associated documents laid out technical proposals for changes to the Building Regulations, Approved Documents, and carbon calculation methods. In summary, it means:
- setting the performance requirements to ensure new homes and non-residential buildings (a) have high fabric standards; (b) use low-carbon heating and (c) are ‘zero-carbon ready’.
- improving the minimum standards for fixed building services and on-site electricity generation.
- improving the guidance and minimum standards for heat loss from building services.
The first consultation occurred between October 2019 and February 2020 - and the second one ran from December 2023 to March 2024.
New energy rating & carbon calculating software called the Home Energy Model will replace the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP). The HEM is widely seen as not up to the task and there has been a lot of beta testing to improve the new software. In May 2025, the MHCLG confirmed that SAP v10.3 will be available alongside HEM to use during a transitional period as HEM is gradually rolled-out.
To discuss any of the above your first point-of-contact is Brett Amphlett on (020) 7451 7316 or [email protected].