Costs & Pricing
126 sources in the library on costs & pricing. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 2 of 4.
- very strong RN-SXGV1Y
Revenue Scotland
The Scottish residential transaction tax bands, in force since 1 April 2021: 0% up to £145,000, 2% from £145,001 to £250,000, 5% from £250,001 to £325,000, 10% from £325,001 to £750,000, and 12% above £750,000. First-time buyer relief raises the nil rate band to £175,000, worth a maximum saving of £600, which is far smaller than the equivalent English relief. A temporary nil rate band of £250,000 applied between 15 July 2020 and 31 March 2021 and has since expired. The Additional Dwelling Supplement of 8% is charged separately on top of these bands where the buyer will own more than one dwelling. Note that the Scottish 10% band starts at £325,001, far lower than the English 10% band at £925,001, so a mid-priced Scottish purchase carries markedly more tax than the same price in England.
- very strong RN-RH39YO
Revenue Scotland
The devolved landfill tax rates that set the floor under skip hire and waste disposal pricing in Scotland. From 1 April 2026 the standard rate is £130.75 per tonne and the lower rate, for qualifying inert material such as clean soil, rock and concrete, is £8.65 per tonne. The preceding year, 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026, ran at £126.15 standard and £4.05 lower, so the lower rate more than doubled at the 2026 uprating, a step change that feeds straight into inert waste disposal prices. Historic rates: 1 April 2024 £103.70 standard and £3.30 lower; 1 April 2023 £102.10 and £3.25; 1 April 2022 £98.60 and £3.15; 1 April 2021 £96.70 and £3.10. Note the divergence from the England and Northern Ireland rates set by HMRC. The page does not carry the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund credit percentage.
- very strong RN-C20YEY
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
A closed scheme that still binds new owners, which is a trap for anyone buying a property to renovate. The Green Deal is closed to new applicants, but where a property carries a Green Deal loan the liability travels with the property: whoever moves in is responsible for repaying it, through a charge added to the electricity bill, and can change electricity supplier only to one participating in the scheme. A seller or landlord is legally required to tell a buyer or tenant that a Green Deal loan exists, that they will be responsible for it, and to show them the Energy Performance Certificate before they move in; the EPC states what improvements were made and how much remains to be repaid. Early repayment is possible but may attract extra costs, notified by the company managing the loan. Complaints go to the Green Deal provider first, whose details are on the EPC, or to the DESNZ Green Deal team if the provider has ceased trading; if unresolved within 8 weeks the complaint goes to the Financial Ombudsman Service for mis-selling and other financial issues, or to the Energy Ombudsman for poor installation work or non-disclosure by a seller or landlord.
- very strong RN-B5QOYU
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (GOV.UK)
The current statutory floor on rented-property energy work, and the source of the £3,500 figure that governs landlord retrofit budgets. Since 1 April 2020 a landlord cannot let or continue to let a domestic property with an EPC rating below band E unless a valid exemption is registered. The cost cap is £3,500 including VAT: a landlord who has spent that much without reaching band E can register a high cost exemption. Exemptions and their durations: all relevant improvements made, 5 years; high cost, 5 years; wall insulation where the required measure would damage the property, 5 years; third party consent refused, 5 years, or until the tenancy ends where it was tenant consent that was withheld; property devaluation of 5% or more, 5 years; and recently becoming a landlord, 6 months. Every exemption must be registered on the PRS Exemptions Register before letting. Penalties per property per breach: up to £2,000 for renting out a non-compliant property for less than 3 months, up to £4,000 for 3 months or more, up to £1,000 for false or misleading register information, and up to £2,000 for failing to comply with a compliance notice, capped at £5,000 in total per property.
- very strong RN-JD6PEW
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (GOV.UK)
The official statistics behind every claim about heating costs and who cannot afford them, and the source of the definition that grant eligibility is written against. The England metric is Low Income Low Energy Efficiency: a household is fuel poor if it lives in a property with a fuel poverty energy efficiency rating of band D or below, and when it spends the required amount to heat the home it is left with a residual income below the official poverty line. Note that this is a two-part test combining property efficiency and residual income, not an income threshold alone, which is why an EPC band change can move a household in or out of fuel poverty without its income changing. Published by DESNZ. The collection indexes the annual reports, including the Annual fuel poverty statistics report 2026 published 7 August 2026 and the Fuel poverty detailed tables 2026 covering 2025 data. The headline household count and the average fuel poverty gap in pounds live in those individual reports rather than on this page, so cite a named report and year for a figure.
- very strong RN-9S1WR8
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (GOV.UK)
The £150 one-off discount off an electricity bill, relevant to any running-cost or payback calculation on heating and insulation work. The money is never paid to the household: the electricity supplier applies it to the bill, or issues a voucher to a prepayment meter customer. The scheme is currently closed and reopens in October 2026 for winter 2026 to 2027. Eligibility differs by nation, with separate criteria for England and Wales and for Scotland, and the discount is not available in Northern Ireland at all. Most eligible customers receive it automatically. It sits alongside, and does not reduce, Cold Weather Payments or Winter Fuel Payments. Use it as the authority for the discount value and the automatic application mechanism; the nation-specific qualifying criteria are on the linked regional pages rather than here.
- very strong RN-ZAQ300
GOV.UK
You must own the property, which can be a business premises, second home or rental, and you must be replacing a fossil fuel heating system such as oil, gas, electric or LPG. Properties that have already had government funding for a heat pump or biomass boiler, social housing, and most new builds still under construction are excluded, though a finished new build with a fossil fuel boiler and an owner-built self build can qualify. A biomass boiler additionally requires the property to be off the gas grid, in a rural location as defined in Ofgem guidance, and the boiler to hold an emissions certificate. The installer must commission and install the heat pump within 120 days of applying for the grant or it will not be eligible, and the application is made through an MCS certified installer.
- very strong RN-JPYSJ1
GOV.UK
Carries the maximum grant by nation, which differs across the UK and is the figure most articles quote wrongly. England up to 30,000 pounds, Wales up to 36,000 pounds, Northern Ireland up to 25,000 pounds, and in Scotland Disabled Facilities Grants are not available at all, with support instead provided through equipment and adaptations schemes. Some councils may give more. The award is means tested on household income and household savings over 6,000 pounds, but disabled children under 18 can get a grant without their parents' income being taken into account, and landlords can get one without their income and savings being assessed, though the council may require the property to be let to another disabled person if the tenant moves within 5 years. Warns that starting work before the council approves the application may mean no grant at all. Payment is either in instalments as work progresses or in full on completion, paid to the contractor directly or through the applicant, and where the applicant or a relative does the work the council will normally only accept invoices for materials or services bought.
- very strong RN-W4V5H5
GOV.UK
HUG Phase 2 ran from April 2023 until March 2025, with up to £630 million of grant funding for successful local authorities across the two financial years; local authority applications closed 27 January 2023 after assessment deadlines of 18 November 2022 and 27 January 2023. The page names no successor, so pair it with the Warm Homes: Local Grant page.
- very strong RN-DMB7DI
GOV.UK
Sets out that councils may charge a second homes premium of up to 2 times the normal Council Tax, and an empty home premium once a property has been empty for a year, rising to up to 4 times the normal bill after 10 years empty. Both premiums can be waived for up to 12 months where the property is being marketed, is in probate, or is undergoing major repairs, and derelict homes are exempt.
- very strong RN-WK81ED
HM Land Registry
The statutory fee scales under the current Land Registration Fee Order, in force since 9 December 2024. Scale 1 (transfers of value, first registrations, leases) by price band, postal fee then reduced portal/Business Gateway fee for a whole-title dealing: £0-80,000 £45/£20; £80,001-100,000 £95/£40; £100,001-200,000 £230/£100; £200,001-500,000 £330/£150; £500,001-1,000,000 £655/£295; over £1,000,000 £1,105/£500. Voluntary first registration takes a 25% discount (£30, £70, £170, £250, £495, £830). Scale 2 (charges, transfers not for value, assents) is £45/£20, £70/£30, £100/£45, £145/£65, £305/£140 across the same bands. Fixed fees of £20 to £130 cover specific applications. Electronic lodgement roughly halves the fee on a whole-title dealing; dealings with part of a title get no such reduction.
- very strong RN-HNO5EW
HM Land Registry
HM Land Registry's collection of UK House Price Index reports for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, published as reports and CSV, last updated 19 August 2026. The UK HPI is a National Statistic; the Northern Ireland House Price Index is calculated and published quarterly, and the Northern Ireland monthly sales volume is now estimated by dividing the quarterly total by 3. The July 2026 UK HPI was due at 9.30am on Wednesday 16 September 2026. Notes the March 2024 revision of estimates from January 2021 onward and a later identified error in cash and mortgage transaction counts for January 2021 to December 2022 which did not affect the indices or price levels. This is the authoritative average-price-by-local-authority source for any value uplift or 'extend or move' calculation.
- very strong RN-LAXEYE
HM Revenue & Customs
Form VAT431C and notes for reclaiming VAT when converting an existing non-residential building into a dwelling. Published 5 December 2023, updated 25 January 2024. Requires the building regulations completion certificate, planning permission evidence and conversion plans; claims must be made within 6 months of completion (3 months for conversions completed before 5 December 2023). Postal claims go to BT&C VAT, HMRC, BX9 1WR and original documents should not be sent.
- very strong RN-93R0C1
HM Revenue & Customs
HMRC's rate table for Aggregates Levy, the per tonne tax due when aggregate, meaning sand, gravel or rock, is commercially exploited. The rate is 2.03 pounds per tonne from 1 April 2024, 2.08 pounds per tonne from 1 April 2025 and 2.16 pounds per tonne from 1 April 2026. Registration is required by anyone who, for commercial purposes, exploits taxable aggregate in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or moves taxable aggregate into those countries from Scotland. This is the tax component built into every quoted tonne of sand, gravel, ballast or Type 1 sub-base, and the page is the citable source for it rather than a supplier's price list.
- very strong RN-Q24A2A
HM Revenue & Customs
HMRC guidance (published 5 December 2023, updated 6 November 2025) on claiming back VAT on building materials for a self-built new home. Claims must be made no more than 6 months after completion for builds completed on or after 5 December 2023 (3 months for earlier completions). Sets out what a VAT invoice must show, including the customer's name and address on invoices over £250, and gives processing times of 3 weeks for online claims and 6 weeks by post.
- very strong RN-O1NRXC
HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK)
Under CIS a contractor deducts money from a subcontractor's payments and passes it to HMRC as an advance payment towards the subcontractor's tax and National Insurance. Contractors must register; subcontractors need not, but unregistered subcontractors have deductions taken at a higher rate. A business that does not itself do construction work must register as a contractor once it has spent more than 3 million pounds on construction in the 12 months since its first payment. CIS covers site preparation, demolition and dismantling, building work, alterations, repairs and decorating, installing heating, lighting, power, water and ventilation systems, and internal cleaning after construction. It excludes architecture and surveying, scaffolding hire without labour, carpet fitting, manufacture of materials, and delivering materials. Useful for explaining why a homeowner engaging trades directly is not a CIS contractor.
- very strong RN-GLZAMU
HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK)
The SDLT band table for a single residential property: zero up to 125,000 pounds, 2% on the portion from 125,001 to 250,000 pounds, 5% from 250,001 to 925,000 pounds, 10% from 925,001 to 1.5 million pounds and 12% above 1.5 million pounds. A 5% surcharge is usually added on top of these rates if the buyer already owns another residential property. HMRC's worked example gives 4,750 pounds on a 295,000 pound purchase (0 plus 2,500 plus 2,250). New residential leaseholds pay SDLT on the lease premium at these rates, plus 1% on the portion of the net present value of rent above the 125,000 pound threshold; this does not apply to assigned leases. This is the moving cost that has to be set against an extension or loft conversion budget.
- very strong RN-1X77D2
HM Revenue and Customs
Defines the boundary of the scheme, which decides whether a given trade's invoice should carry a CIS deduction. Work covered is most construction work to a permanent or temporary building or structure and civil engineering such as roads and bridges, and expressly includes preparing the site such as laying foundations and access works, demolition and dismantling, building work, alterations, repairs and decorating, installing systems for heating, lighting, power, water and ventilation, and cleaning the inside of buildings after construction work. The listed exceptions are architecture and surveying, scaffolding hire with no labour, carpet fitting, making materials used in construction including plant and machinery, delivering materials, and work on construction sites that is clearly not construction such as running a canteen. Confirms contractors must register but subcontractors need not, though unregistered subcontractors suffer deductions at a higher rate, and that the same rules apply to a business based outside the UK doing construction work in the UK.
- very strong RN-TBNA5T
HM Revenue and Customs
The single most useful correction for any derelict-property or doer-upper note. HMRC states flatly that there is no tax relief and no lower rate of SDLT for uninhabitable properties, that a very high proportion of repayment claims in this area are wrong, and that buyers should be cautious about being misled by repayment agents. Being suitable for use as a dwelling is not the same as being ready for immediate occupation, and if a building retains the character or identity of a residential property it is wholly residential for SDLT despite disrepair. Lists the defects that expressly do not make a property unsuitable for use as a dwelling, even in combination: temporary removal of bathroom or kitchen facilities before sale, substantial repair or replacement of windows, floors, doors or roof, replacement boiler and pipework, unsafe electrical wiring, services switched off, pest infestation, damp proofing needed or plasterboard damage, flood damage, the presence of asbestos, and structural defects that can be repaired. Past use as a dwelling is a strong indicator of suitability. Cites the Court of Appeal in Amarjeet and Tajinder Mudan [2025] EWCA Civ 799 as now legally binding, upholding the Upper Tribunal at [2024] UKUT 307 (TCC). Manual published 19 March 2016, updated 1 September 2026.
- very strong RN-6V9WLL
HM Revenue and Customs
The duties that attach to anyone who pays subcontractors for construction work, which matters for a homeowner acting as their own main contractor and for judging whether a builder is operating properly. Registration as a contractor is required if you pay subcontractors to do construction work, or if your business does not do construction work but has spent more than 3 million pounds on construction in the 12 months since the first payment. The six rules are: register before taking on the first subcontractor; check whether the person should be employed rather than subcontracted, with a penalty if they should be an employee; verify with HMRC that subcontractors are registered with CIS; make deductions from payments and pay them to HMRC, the deductions counting as advance payments towards the subcontractor's tax and National Insurance; file monthly returns and keep full CIS records, with a penalty for failing to; and notify HMRC of changes to the business.
- very strong RN-MZJCNI
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
The mechanics and, critically, the deadline of the DIY housebuilders scheme, which is where most claims are lost. For a building completed before 5 December 2023 the claim must be made no more than 3 months after completion; for one completed on or after 5 December 2023 the window was extended to no more than 6 months after completion. The scheme covers construction of a new residential property or a new charity building for a charitable or relevant residential purpose. Evidence required with the claim: the building regulation completion certificate, evidence of planning permission (full permission, or outline permission with approval of reserved matters), the building plans, and the invoices. HMRC accepts copies and warns not to send originals as they will not be returned. Claims can be made through the online service after registering, or on form VAT431NB by post; HMRC offices will not accept drop-off or hand-delivered claims. The conversion equivalent is VAT431C. This page does not itemise which goods and services are eligible, which is in Notice 708 and the claim notes.
- very strong RN-NP6XVM
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
The capital gains position when a renovated home is sold, which decides whether improvement spending has a tax consequence. The final 9 months of the period of ownership always qualify for relief regardless of use in that time, provided the dwelling was the only or main residence at some point; this extends to 36 months for a disabled person or someone in a care home. Garden and grounds not exceeding half a hectare, a little over one acre, are wholly covered by relief; above that only the permitted area, the land reasonably required for the enjoyment of the dwelling given its size and character, qualifies, which is the trap for anyone selling off a plot after an extension. Where part of the home is used exclusively for business, the gain must be split between the chargeable business or let part and the exempt living accommodation; using a room for work that also serves domestic purposes does not break full relief, which is the answer on a garden office or converted study. Relief is time-apportioned by periods of occupation over the period of ownership, with no revaluation at the date use changes.
- very strong RN-GKII48
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
The statutory floor under any labour rate quoted for building work in 2026-27. Employer secondary Class 1 National Insurance is charged at 15%, with the secondary threshold at £96 per week, £417 per month or £5,000 per year, and the Employment Allowance at £10,500. National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 per hour from 1 April 2026. National Minimum Wage: £10.85 per hour for 18 to 20 year olds, £8 per hour for under 18s, £8 per hour for apprentices under 19, and £8 per hour for apprentices aged 19 or over in the first year of their apprenticeship. The tax year rates run 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, but the minimum wage rates commence 1 April 2026, a week earlier. These are the figures to build up an honest labour cost from: the gross hourly rate plus 15% employer NI above the £5,000 threshold, before any allowance for holiday pay, pension, tools, travel or overhead.
- very strong RN-ROI28Z
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
Paragraphs 6.1 to 6.6.2 of Notice 708. This is the only route on which conversion services themselves, rather than the eventual sale, can be zero rated. Paragraph 6.1.2 gives the five conditions: the services are supplied to a relevant housing association, there is a non-residential conversion, the services are supplied in the course of that conversion, a valid certificate is held where one is needed, and the services are not among those specifically excluded from zero rating. It matters to a private homeowner mainly as a contrast: a household converting a non-residential building pays 5% under section 7, not 0%, because it is not a relevant housing association. The section also covers what a certificate must say and the consequences of an incorrect certificate.
- very strong RN-MI5DQA
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
The closed list of energy-saving materials that attract relief when installed in residential accommodation, and the dates that govern it. Paragraph 2.7 lists: controls for central heating and hot water systems (2.8), draught stripping (2.9), insulation (2.10), solar panels (2.11), wind turbines (2.12), water turbines (2.13), ground source heat pumps (2.14), air source heat pumps (2.15), micro combined heat and power units (2.16) and wood-fuelled boilers (2.17). Three were added from 1 February 2024: water source heat pumps (2.18), batteries for storing energy converted from electricity (2.19) and smart diverters (2.20). Rate timeline at paragraph 1.1: the zero rate runs from 1 May 2023 to 31 March 2027 and reverts to the 5% reduced rate from 1 April 2027. Paragraph 2.19 confirms the zero rate covers retrofitting a battery to an existing microgeneration system, a standalone battery storing grid electricity, and a battery storing from both; paragraph 2.5 treats a battery fitted as part of the original microgeneration install as ancillary to a single zero-rated supply.
- very strong RN-RN756R
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
The second, narrower relief in Notice 708/6, covering paragraphs 3.1 to 3.12, for grant-funded heating work that falls outside the energy-saving materials list in section 2. The reduced rate of 5% applies where the installation is grant funded, involves a heating appliance, a central heating system or a renewable source heating system, and is supplied to a qualifying person living in their sole or main residence. A qualifying person is someone aged 60 or over, or in receipt of one of the benefits listed at paragraph 3.8: Child Tax Credit other than the family element, Council Tax Benefit, Disability Living Allowance, Disablement Pension, Housing Benefit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, War Disablement Pension or Working Tax Credit. Paragraph 3.5 records that the grant scheme for connected security goods has been withdrawn. The relief attaches only to the grant-funded portion of the work, so a household topping up a grant with its own money pays the standard rate on that part.
- very strong RN-Z2OY0Q
Homes and Communities Agency with Ove Arup and Partners
the regional adjustment factors the cost book uses to carry a national rate to a region, Outer London 1.00 and Inner London 1.08 against Northern 0.86 and Wales 0.90. It is cited as the regional half of the book's derived London trade day rates rather than for the demolition costs the guidance is named for, which is why a London plasterer's rate points here
- very strong RN-57XOOI
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Planning practice guidance on CIL, last updated 17 June 2026. Confirms the self-build exemption for a new dwelling built by someone who will occupy it, provided the exemption is claimed and a commencement notice submitted before work starts. Householder extensions under 100 square metres fall within the minor development exemption; larger residential extensions can claim exemption under regulations 42A and 42B where the owner occupies the house as their sole residence. A late commencement notice triggers a surcharge of 20 per cent of the notional chargeable amount, capped at £2,500.
- very strong RN-0VXMQM
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
The government guidance and template notices for the Act that governs basement digs, underpinning and work to a shared wall. It groups the notifiable work into three sections: section 1, building new on or at the boundary between properties; section 2, work to existing party walls or structures including cutting into a party wall, altering its height or depth, removing chimney breasts and rebuilding the wall; and section 6, excavation near a neighbouring building's foundations, for which the page supplies both a 3 metre notice and a 6 metre notice template. Notice periods differ by type: a section 2 party structure notice needs at least 2 months, while a line of junction notice and an excavation notice need at least 1 month. Where the adjoining owner dissents, the Act provides a dispute resolution mechanism through surveyors who settle the matter by an award. The templates are the practical value here: a note can link the exact notice a homeowner has to serve.
- very strong RN-W2AUG5
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
Scope and exemptions for the Building Safety Levy. It bites on applications for building control approval submitted on or after 1 October 2026 for major residential development, defined as 10 or more new dwellings or 30 or more new bedspaces in purpose-built student accommodation, and it cannot be avoided by splitting one planning permission across several smaller building control applications. The key line for domestic renovation: extensions and improvements that create no new dwelling or bedspace are outside the levy entirely and require no levy information. Exempt persons are non-profit registered providers of social housing and their wholly owned subsidiaries. Exempt dwellings include most affordable, social and intermediate rent homes, shared ownership, qualifying discounted rental, First Homes restricted to 70% of market value on resale by planning obligation, and supported housing. Schedule 1 excludes school accommodation, domestic abuse refuges, hospitals, children's homes, hotels and hostels, religious establishments, care homes and hospices, secure facilities, almshouses, homeless temporary accommodation and armed forces or MoD housing.
- very strong RN-01PEVO
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
How the Building Safety Levy is calculated in England. The charge is a rate per square metre of chargeable floorspace, with a separate rate for every local authority area set out in Schedule 3 of the Building Safety Levy (England) Regulations 2025. The previously developed land rate is exactly half the standard rate, and a site qualifies only if at least 75% of the land within the planning permission boundary meets the previously developed definition. The spread across the country is wide: Kensington and Chelsea £100.35 standard and £50.17 previously developed, Camden £87.12 and £43.56, County Durham £12.70 and £6.35. Chargeable floorspace is measured as gross internal area following the RICS Code of Measuring Practice 6th edition, and only new residential floorspace counts. Guidance published 10 July 2025, updated 2 July 2026. Relevant to renovation costing mainly as a new cost line on any scheme that crosses into major residential development.
- very strong RN-Q89GDQ
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
The only official national dataset that physically inspects homes and costs their condition, and therefore one of the few sources in which a repair cost figure has a defensible provenance. A continuous national survey commissioned by MHCLG, combining household interviews with physical inspections of a subsample of properties, covering housing circumstances and the condition and energy efficiency of housing in England. Latest data is 2024-25, with publications running through July 2026 on housing quality, energy efficiency, demographics and household resilience, and a January 2026 briefing on modelling a new Decent Homes Standard. The condition strand is where the Decent Homes Standard failure rates, disrepair measures and modelled costs to make a dwelling decent are published, but those figures live in the individual reports and the technical documentation rather than on this collection page, so cite a named report and year rather than the collection.
- very strong RN-I9Q8GB
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
Sets out the framework for planning application fees under the 2012 Fees Regulations and points to the current schedule (planning fees: annual indexation from 1 April). From 1 April 2025 all planning fees increase each year by CPI inflation from the preceding September, capped at 10 per cent even if inflation is higher (paragraph 002b, revised 16 April 2025). The fee for a lawful development certificate for proposed development is half the application fee for planning permission (paragraph 024, revised 22 February 2018), and a fee for a prior approval application is payable under regulation 14 of the 2012 Fees Regulations (paragraph 023). Page last updated 16 April 2025.
- very strong RN-WRETZK
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (GOV.UK)
The planning practice guidance on section 106 agreements, the other developer cost alongside the Community Infrastructure Levy. A planning obligation may only be taken into account in granting permission if it passes the three tests in regulation 122 of the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 as amended in 2011 and 2019: it must be necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms, directly related to the development, and fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development. These are set out at Paragraph 002 (Reference ID 23b-002-20190901) and repeated as policy in the NPPF. Paragraph 020 (Reference ID 23b-020-20190315) covers renegotiation: parties may vary an obligation by agreement at any time, and where agreement fails an application to modify or discharge may be made under section 106A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, but only where the obligation predates April 2010 or is more than 5 years old. Paragraph 006 (Reference ID 23b-006-20190901) records that the 2019 amendments removed the pooling restriction, so CIL receipts and section 106 contributions may now fund the same infrastructure.
- very strong RN-3DRGM5
mygov.scot (Scottish Government)
Scotland's equivalent of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, and materially more generous. Two grant streams run in parallel: up to £7,500 for energy efficiency improvements such as insulation, and up to £7,500 for a clean heating system such as a heat pump, giving a combined maximum of £15,000. Rural and island households get up to £1,500 extra on each stream, taking the clean heating grant to £9,000 and the combined ceiling to £18,000. The balance of the cost can be taken as an interest-free loan. Grants are tied to improvements recommended in the property's Energy Performance Certificate, Home Energy Improvement Report or Home Renewable Selector Report, and the page warns that for some improvements the maximum grant is lower than the headline figure, with the per-measure caps held on the Home Energy Scotland site rather than here. The page does not state the loan cap, admin fee or repayment term.
- very strong RN-MQ9OJ9
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
Northern Ireland runs a materially wider set of housing grants than Great Britain, administered by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive rather than a local council. Six schemes are listed. The Affordable Warmth Scheme addresses fuel poverty and energy inefficiency for low-income households. The Disabled Facilities Grant adapts a disabled person's home, but unlike in England it requires a health trust occupational therapist to recommend the work. The Repair Grant helps landlords where a council has issued a statutory notice for repairs. The Renovation Grant is for homes inspected and found unfit to live in, and the property must be the applicant's main or only home. The Replacement Grant is available only where the home is in a rural area, is unfit to live in and repair is not an option. The Home Repair Assistance Grant covers small-scale repair work and improvements. The Renovation, Replacement and Home Repair Assistance Grants have no equivalent in England.
- very strong RN-N39C7H
Office for National Statistics
ONS monthly and quarterly construction output bulletin, edition released 13 August 2026 covering June 2026 output, new orders and the Construction Output Price Indices for Quarter 2 (April to June) 2026; next release 11 September 2026. Reports total construction output up 0.3% in Q2 2026 on Q1 2026, with new work up 0.4% and repair and maintenance up 0.2%; five of nine sectors grew, infrastructure new work leading at 1.9%. Monthly output fell 0.1% in June 2026, after falls of 0.8% in May and 0.1% in April. Carries a 13 August 2026 correction notice about a public housing new work data error from January 2022 that raised the output level by about 1.2%.
- very strong RN-HE12WE
Office for National Statistics
The ONS Construction Output Price Indices (OPIs) dataset, covering January 2014 to June 2026 for the UK, released 13 August 2026 with the next release on 12 November 2026. Published as a single xlsx of about 79.4 KB by the ONS Construction statistics team, with previous editions archived. This is the official index for deflating and uprating UK construction prices, including the repair and maintenance and private housing series a renovation cost note would use to move an older price to current money.
- very strong RN-UICQEC
Office for National Statistics
The ONS annual round-up, useful for putting a single job in the context of the market that prices it. The value of construction new work in current prices in Great Britain during 2024 rose 1.4% to £140,684 million. In Quarter 3 (July to September) 2024 there were 370,770 VAT and PAYE registered construction firms operating across Great Britain, a count that explains the fragmentation behind quote-to-quote variation. Construction-related employees excluding self-employment rose 0.6% in Q3 2024 against Q3 2023 to 1.4 million workers, and the exclusion of self-employment matters because much of the domestic repair and maintenance trade sits outside that figure. The article is a summary; the new work versus repair and maintenance split and the private housing RM&I series live in the linked datasets rather than in this text. Pair it with the ONS construction output price indices for the deflator.
- very strong RN-6SC9FZ
Office for National Statistics
ONS bulletin from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, released 23 October 2025 with April 2025 data. Median weekly earnings for full-time employees were 766.60 pounds in April 2025, up 5.3% in nominal terms and 1.1% in real terms on the year using CPIH. Median gross annual earnings for full-time employees were 39,039 pounds in April 2025 against 37,439 pounds in April 2024, up 4.3%. All 2025 estimates are provisional. Useful as the employed-earnings baseline against which self-employed trade day rates are compared.