HG Construction Starts £76m South Acton Student and Affordable Housing Scheme
HG Construction has secured a £76 million contract to deliver a major student accommodation and affordable housing development at Bollo Yard in South Acton, West London. Appointed by developer Hurlington Capital, HG Construction will deliver two residential blocks close to Acton Town station, combining a 21-storey student tower with a separate affordable housing building. The development will provide 429 purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) beds alongside 95 affordable homes, creating a significant new mixed-tenure residential scheme in the London Borough of Ealing. Construction is moving forward following Gateway 2 approval from the Building Safety Regulator, an increasingly important milestone for higher-risk residential developments before building work can commence. HG Construction secured Gateway 2 approval for Block AB in just 22 weeks, enabling the contractor and development team to progress into the main construction phase. The project has been supported by a £112 million development finance package secured by Hurlington Capital and its joint venture partner V-Fund. Ealing Council has separately agreed a £29 million deal to acquire all 95 affordable homes, which will be made available at social rent. The combination of purpose-built student accommodation and social housing provides the scheme with a diverse residential mix, while its location close to Acton Town Underground station offers strong public transport connections across West London and into central London. HG Construction will draw on a number of its in-house specialist businesses during delivery, including its piling, crane, mechanical and electrical and offsite pod operations. The integrated approach will give the contractor greater control over several key construction packages while supporting coordination across the high-rise development. DMWR Architects is leading the technical design for Bollo Yard, while KS4 is providing project management, cost consultancy and employer’s agent services. The project adds to a growing pipeline of purpose-built student accommodation being delivered across London as developers respond to continued demand for professionally managed student housing. Importantly, the South Acton development will also deliver a substantial package of new social rented homes alongside the student accommodation. For HG Construction, the £76 million contract further strengthens its presence in the capital’s high-rise residential and PBSA markets, with the contractor bringing its specialist construction and offsite capabilities to another complex urban development. With regulatory approval and development finance now secured, Bollo Yard is set to transform the South Acton site with more than 500 new student and affordable homes. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Willmott Dixon Tops Out £140m Derriford Emergency Care Centre in New Hospital Programme Milestone
Willmott Dixon has reached a major construction milestone at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, topping out the £140 million emergency care building that is set to transform urgent and emergency healthcare provision across Plymouth, South Devon and Cornwall. The project represents the first Wave 1 scheme within the Government’s New Hospital Programme to reach this stage, marking significant progress for one of the NHS’s major healthcare infrastructure investments. Representatives from Willmott Dixon, its supply chain and the wider design team joined University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP) and hospital staff to celebrate completion of the building’s structural frame. Construction of the frame has required approximately 10,900 cubic metres of concrete and 1,900 tonnes of recycled steel reinforcement, with reducing embodied carbon forming an important part of the structural design from the outset. Around 55% of the cement content has been replaced with ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS), a by-product of iron and steel production. This approach has resulted in an estimated carbon saving of 1,625 tonnes from the concrete used on the project to date. The sustainability strategy forms part of a wider drive to reduce the environmental impact of new NHS infrastructure. The Derriford development is one of the first New Hospital Programme schemes designed to meet the NHS Net Zero Building Standard, placing energy performance and carbon reduction at the heart of its design and construction. Once completed in April 2029, the new building will provide four clinical floors of modern, purpose-built accommodation for urgent and emergency care. An expanded Emergency Department will occupy the ground floor, increasing capacity and providing facilities designed specifically around modern emergency healthcare requirements. Following completion, the hospital’s existing emergency department will be reconfigured to create a dedicated Paediatric Emergency Department. The investment will provide an important upgrade to Derriford Hospital’s healthcare estate while supporting services for patients across a wide regional catchment. Delivery of the £140 million scheme is being undertaken through the ProCure23 framework, which is used by NHS organisations to procure healthcare construction and development projects. With the structural frame now complete, attention will increasingly move towards the building envelope, mechanical and electrical services, internal fit-out and the extensive specialist clinical infrastructure required before the new facility can become operational. The topping out represents an important step towards the April 2029 completion target and provides a significant early construction milestone for the wider New Hospital Programme. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Starlight Secures £680m War Chest to Deliver More Than 6,000 UK BTR Homes
Starlight Investments has completed the closing of its second UK Build to Rent fund, securing £680 million in total capital commitments to support the acquisition and delivery of more than 6,000 rental homes across the country. The capital has been raised through Starlight UK BTR Fund II alongside ancillary investment vehicles, providing significant backing for the global real estate investor’s continued expansion within the UK purpose-built rental market. The fund is already partially deployed, with three major residential communities currently under construction. Two are located in Manchester, while a further development is progressing in Basildon, Essex. Among Starlight’s growing pipeline is Trinity Heights in Manchester, a 60-storey BTR tower approaching completion, alongside The Mercantile in Basildon and another major rental community under construction within Manchester’s Greengate neighbourhood. The latest fundraising represents another substantial injection of institutional capital into the UK’s rapidly expanding BTR development sector. Investors participating in Fund II include institutions from Europe, Asia-Pacific and Canada, combining existing Starlight investment partners with several new entrants. Significantly, the fund has also attracted government-backed investment. Earlier this year, the National Housing Bank, part of Homes England, committed £100 million as a cornerstone investor in Fund II. The investment is intended to help accelerate Starlight’s pipeline of rental housing in locations where housing supply remains constrained. Starlight’s strategy is focused on professionally managed rental communities across major regional cities including Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds, together with locations within the London commuter belt. Developments are being targeted towards areas with strong rental demand and access to employment, education and transport infrastructure. The company’s wider UK platform now comprises 12 BTR communities at various stages from development and construction through to leasing and operation. Starlight says its expanding pipeline is expected to place the business among the UK’s four largest BTR operators by scale as further developments become operational. Jonnie Milich, Head of UK Residential at Starlight Investments, said the closing would allow the business to concentrate on execution and the next phase of growth, supported by an established development pipeline and expanding UK team. The investment comes as institutional capital continues to play an increasingly important role in bringing forward large-scale rental housing. For the construction and residential development markets, Starlight’s £680 million capital raise provides substantial funding capacity for thousands of new homes, creating a significant future pipeline for architects, contractors, consultants and specialist supply chain businesses as schemes progress. Starlight has operated in the UK since 2020 and, as of May 2026, managed around 4,000 UK homes with approximately £1.1 billion of assets under management. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
London Councils and Budget 2026: ‘exciting opportunities’ for devolution and growth, but £5.2 billion funding gap ‘looms large’
The prospect of the government devolving more powers and resources could bring “exciting opportunities” to the capital, London Councils has declared. In its submission to the Autumn Budget, the cross-party group highlights the many priorities boroughs share with the government – including building council housing, helping more Londoners into work and generating good growth in every postcode. Through more fiscal autonomy for London and local government, boroughs emphasise that faster progress can be made achieving these ambitions. However, London Councils also warns of a growing funding gap in town hall budgets that threatens to destabilise local services and undermine delivery. London Councils’ latest analysis of local government finances in the capital forecasts up to a £1.2 billion funding gap this year (2026-27). London boroughs face a cumulative budget shortfall of £5.2 billion between now and 2030. Boroughs in the capital remain disproportionately reliant on emergency borrowing to avoid bankruptcy through the government’s Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) scheme. Nine of London’s 33 local authorities receive EFS. Cllr Stephen Cowan, Chair of London Councils, said: “The government’s devolution agenda offers exciting opportunities for the capital. “London is a leading global city and the powerhouse of the UK economy, but granting London more autonomy is critical to sustaining this success. “Strengthening London boroughs by devolving new fiscal resources would put us in a much stronger position to tackle London’s challenges, grow the economy, and maximise London’s contribution to the public coffers. The benefits would be felt not only by Londoners but by communities around the country. “Boroughs have a vital role to play, but are too often held back by enormous budget pressures. As we plan how best to invest in local services, to build housing, and to grow our economies, a worsening funding gap looms large over everything we do. For too long, the funding available to us has failed to keep pace with skyrocketing costs and demand for services. “Everyone knows the local government finance system is broken. The upcoming Budget is an opportunity to help stabilise town hall finances, give boroughs more fiscal tools, and support the local delivery we all want to see.” Policy priorities to help boost delivery in London On devolution, boroughs welcome the government’s recognition that strong local authorities are essential to the success of its devolution plans. Boroughs want to play a full and active part in shaping the next stages of London’s devolution journey. London Councils strongly believes that new fiscal devolution powers must apply to local authorities, with the design of devolved fiscal arrangements in the capital jointly decided between the Mayor and the boroughs. Boroughs’ fiscal devolution priorities include ensuring local authorities are able to retain and have a say in allocating at least 50% of revenues raised from an overnight visitor levy, retain more revenue from business rates and business rates growth, and ensure involvement in any new devolved income tax arrangements for the capital. On housing, London boroughs are determined to take the lead in delivering the largest council housing programme since the post-war period. To support this, London Councils is calling for further increases to grant funding, building on the investment previously announced for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme. With one in 50 Londoners homeless and living in temporary accommodation, the housing crisis is having a devastating impact on individuals but also on borough finances. London boroughs collectively spend £5.5m daily on homelessness provision. To relieve homelessness pressures, London Councils is seeking an end to the temporary accommodation subsidy gap through a lifting of the freeze on the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate payable for boroughs’ temporary accommodation costs, as well as an uplift of LHA to the 30th percentile of market rents. Almost 1.3 million Londoners are economically inactive, so employment and skills are another priority concern for boroughs. London Councils is asking the government to create a single, multi-year funding pot for all skills and employment support to be co-designed by boroughs alongside the GLA. London’s five Get Britain Working Trailblazers supported more than 6,000 Londoners in their first year. Boroughs are pushing for guaranteed funding for a third year of the trailblazers so that proven programmes due to end next year are not lost to a funding cliff-edge. On infrastructure, London Councils highlights the Bakerloo line extension and West London Orbital as priority transport projects. Boroughs also want London empowered to invest in its own growth by allowing the capital to retain land value uplift generated by infrastructure projects. This would support investment in the next generation of growth-enabling infrastructure. Funding gap analysis According to London Councils’ analysis of data supplied by boroughs, London local government faces a cumulative budget shortfall of £5.2 billion between now and 2030 (2026-27 until 2029-30). This is a worse picture than the £4.7 billion gap identified in October 2025, which itself was more than twice the £2.2 billion shortfall forecast the previous year, showing that the medium-term funding gap is continuing to grow. In the short-term, London boroughs are grappling with an almost £1.2 billion shortfall in this financial year (2026-27). Finance pressures are driven by the fast-rising cost of providing services and growing need from vulnerable Londoners. Adults’ and children’s social care, homelessness, and special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services continue to see increasing levels of demand. Many of these services are statutory, meaning councils have a legal responsibility to provide them. Because local authorities also have a legal duty to balance their budgets (i.e. they cannot carry a deficit into the next financial year), boroughs will need to deliver savings to address this gap or face using their one-time financial reserves. The government’s 2025 Fair Funding Review improved funding levels for some London boroughs, but saw London’s overall share of national funding for local authorities reduce. After adjusting for inflation, per-capita funding for London boroughs will be almost 17% lower in 2028 than in 2010. Exceptional Financial Support London local government is disproportionately reliant on the government’s Exceptional Financial Support (EFS) scheme compared to other
BBV Completes Mammoth HS2 M42 Bridge Operation in Major Engineering Milestone
Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV) has completed a major weekend of engineering works on HS2, installing the final two 1,000-tonne viaduct spans over the M42 near Birmingham while simultaneously completing the roof structure of another major motorway crossing. The operation marked the culmination of four weekends of intensive construction activity and represents another significant milestone for HS2 infrastructure around Birmingham. At Water Orton, a 75-strong construction team installed two 45-metre-long viaduct spans, completing all six crossings required to carry the new high-speed railway over the M42. Each enormous span was assembled from 18 precast concrete segments manufactured at BBV’s Kingsbury facility. Once assembled, the structures were transported into position using self-propelled modular transporters before being secured together using internal tensioning cables. The two Water Orton viaducts form part of HS2’s complex triangular delta junction, which will connect Birmingham with the main high-speed route heading north. While work progressed at Water Orton, another 150-strong BBV team was completing the final stage of a separate 300-metre-long twin box structure close to the NEC. A 300-tonne crawler crane was used to lift the final 44 precast beams into position. Measuring approximately 23 metres in length and weighing as much as 92 tonnes each, the beams form part of the structure’s substantial 9,800-tonne roof. In total, 175 beams have now been installed across the twin box. The completed structure stands approximately 10 metres high and is supported by two 145-metre-long walls and 46 internal columns. Careful programming allowed both major operations to take place during the same weekend motorway closure, minimising disruption to road users. The M42 reopened at approximately 4am on Monday, around an hour ahead of schedule. BBV project director Oliver Shore described the works as a “huge engineering challenge” and praised the teams involved in delivering the complex programme. Work at Water Orton will now move into its next phase, with BBV extending the Water Orton 2 viaduct by a further 40 metres to close the remaining gap above Gilson Road. Further activity over the motorway is already planned, with another M42 closure scheduled from 23 to 26 October to enable parapets to be installed above the carriageway. The latest milestone demonstrates the scale of temporary works, heavy lifting, off-site manufacturing and logistical coordination involved in constructing HS2 around existing strategic highways, with BBV continuing to progress some of the programme’s most technically demanding structures across the West Midlands. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
McLaren Living Secures Green Light for £65m Hackney Co-Living Development
McLaren Living has secured planning permission for a £65 million co-living and affordable housing development at Fish Island in Hackney Wick, paving the way for 324 new homes in east London. The Wansbeck Road scheme will deliver 280 co-living studios alongside 44 affordable homes across two buildings rising to 10 and seven storeys. Occupying the final development plot within the wider Neptune Wharf masterplan, the project will complete a key part of the regeneration of Fish Island and establish a new residential gateway at the junction of Wansbeck Road and Monier Road. Designed by HTA Design, the development has been conceived as a residential-led community combining private accommodation with an extensive range of shared amenities. Residents of the co-living building will have access to a gym, library, cinema and creative studios, together with communal kitchens and dedicated dining and social spaces. At ground-floor level, plans also include a social co-working café and flexible pop-up event space, helping to create greater activity and interaction between the development and surrounding neighbourhood. A landscaped central courtyard will sit between the two buildings, providing shared outdoor space while creating new connections through the site. Sustainability has also been embedded within the design. The car-free development will provide extensive cycle facilities alongside rain gardens and sustainable drainage measures, while rooftop solar panels will contribute towards reducing operational energy requirements. The scheme is targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating, further strengthening its environmental credentials as McLaren Living looks to deliver a high-density residential development designed around sustainable urban living. The combination of co-living and affordable housing also reflects the increasing diversification of London’s residential market, with purpose-designed shared living emerging alongside more established housing models as developers respond to demand for well-connected homes with greater communal and amenity provision. Ed Court, divisional managing director at McLaren Living, said the developer was excited to progress its plans for Wansbeck Road and complete an important remaining part of the Neptune Wharf masterplan. He added that the location represented a significant co-living investment opportunity, supported by a diverse professional population and strong connections to employment, education and leisure destinations across the capital. With planning permission now secured, the £65 million development represents another significant addition to Hackney Wick’s evolving residential landscape and the continuing regeneration of Fish Island. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals