A moment of opportunity in Scotland and Wales – what the election results mean for the built environment

Millions of people cast their votes in last week’s Scottish and Welsh elections to vote for their Holyrood and Senedd members.

With the SNP in Scotland given a new mandate and Plaid Cymru in Wales ending Labour’s 27 years in government, projects involving public-sector led housing, energy transition, and infrastructure investment are set for a fresh impetus.

Parallel ambition across both nations

The SNP and Plaid Cymru form governments that put the built environment at the heart of their manifestos.

Infrastructure, housing, energy, planning, and public‑service estates are all earmarked for accelerated delivery.

For the construction industry, this alignment offers opportunities across two developmental and interventionist states that want to build more and take greater control of economic levers.

Plaid Cymru is seeking a stronger state-led development model – proposing a revived National Development Agency for Wales to streamline investment, business growth and regional development.

Meanwhile, the SNP proposes a new Major Projects Office, which could mean more central grip on programme, governance and delivery assurance for major infrastructure – speeding up the delivery of "nationally significant" initiatives.

How well new agencies coordinating major projects are integrated into each nation will be crucial otherwise the risk is duplication rather than acceleration.

Both governments also want to capture more value from renewables through wealth funds and devolved energy powers. Scotland and Wales’ ambitions are now anchored in the idea that national renewable energy wealth should directly benefit Scottish and Welsh communities and public services.

SNP plans: progressing pipelines

SNP policy includes a continuation of the £500m Just Transition Fund announced in May 2022, supporting projects and job creation in the North East and Moray that help the region move to a net zero economy.

A new significant proposal is the ScotWind Wealth Fund, with political focus on capturing more value from Scotland’s renewable energy assets. However, revenues would be ringfenced for future generations – not the government’s day-to-day budget.

While the SNP have also committed to investing £10bn in NHS capital over ten years, this reflects a continuation of its £1bn per year allocation on health and social care capital – a much-needed investment in buildings and infrastructure.

Finer details include a new programme of Community Health and Care centres across the country, with initial sites in Port Glasgow, East Livingston and East Calder, Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly. There is also a commitment to hospital refurbishment projects at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Ninewells Hospital, Caithness General Hospital, the Vale of Leven Hospital, the Gilbert Bain Hospital, and the Borders General.

On housing, the SNP have announced a new national housing agency, ‘More Homes Scotland,’ which is expected to start operating from 2027-28 and be fully functional in 2028-29. Further details such as delivery costs and functions will need to find viable solutions that help build more homes at pace and scale if the target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 is to be reached. The reported investment of £4.9 billion in housebuilding over the next four years is significant, but questions remain whether this is additional funding or a continuation of existing capital commitments.

Plaid Cymru priorities and proposals

Plaid Cymru’s programme is built around a simple premise: Wales has been underpowered and under invested for too long, and unlocking its potential requires new institutions and new levers.

Social housing pipeline is a major priority for the new government. It pledges at least 20,000 new social homes by 2030 and proposes Unnos – a national development body responsible for land assembly, site de-risking, planning support, funding and procurement links.

Retrofit becomes a “national mission” – proposals include an area-based, tenure-neutral retrofit programme covering owner-occupied, rented and social homes. The focus is on insulation, heat pumps where viable, one-stop-shop advice hubs, quality and Welsh supply-chain delivery.

A more assertive approach to planning reform could be on the way, but not in the form of deregulation. The government wants clearer consenting timelines, reduced bureaucracy and wider permitted development rights for community-led housing, energy projects and small-scale renewables, but with stronger community influence and Welsh language considerations.

Local procurement will matter more, with the government seeking Welsh-based suppliers to increase from 55% to at least 70% of Welsh public procurement spend. Bids are to be scored on community impact, social value and Welsh supply-chain capacity.

Can the construction industry deliver?

The next five years in both nations will be defined not by the scale of government ambition, but by their ability to overcome persistent structural barriers and geopolitical headwinds.

While the political narratives differ, the delivery challenges are remarkably similar.

The Welsh government can borrow up to £165 million a year. This is capped at a total of £1 billion for capital funding. Plaid Cymru state in their manifesto their commitment to reforming this fiscal framework – including raising annual draw-down limits on the Welsh Reserve on a par with Scotland and increasing the Senedd’s total capital debt limit from £1 billion to £3 billion.

Both nations face a construction workforce crunch. According to the CITB, over 8,600 extra workers are needed over the next five years in Wales – before any new Plaid Cymru driven programmes are added. Meanwhile, Scotland will need 19,550 additional construction workers by 2028 just to meet baseline demand.

Additionally, 21% and 22% of the Scottish and Welsh construction workforce respectively is over 55.

Every major commitment from housing to renewable energy projects depends on a workforce that is already stretched.

Skills strategies, therefore, are vital if delivery timelines are to not slip before they even begin.

CITB’s 2025-29 Strategic Plan and Nation Plan for Wales is a start offering practical steps on collaboration between Welsh government and industry.

The onus on the industry itself to showcase construction as a career has never been greater and a key stimulus for hiring staff, as selected by over a third of respondents to our UK Construction Market Report Q1 2026 survey.

Geopolitical headwinds

Delivery plans will need to navigate a challenging geopolitical backdrop.

Forecasts from the Construction Products Association predict a difficult 12–18 months, with output expected to fall by 2.5% in 2026.

Construction product price inflation, especially in oil-based products and energy-intensive products following the conflict in Iran, look set to combine with indirect consequences such as lower consumer and investor confidence.

Crucial to infrastructure project viability in Scotland and Wales will be clients being more understanding of cost rises and contractor willingness to sign up to large projects in an uncertain cost environment.

Turning ambition into delivery

Scotland and Wales may take different political paths, but they now share common opportunities and challenges. Can they build the developmental states they aspire to become?

For the construction industry, the next five years will be defined by how well we help them answer that question – through capacity, clarity on funding and pipelines, and delivery at scale.