• MA CPD Morning 2026 
• Our Social Value Achievements 2024/25
• New Decent Homes Standard 2026
• We are CPD Certified in Party Wall Matters!
• Project Case Study: North Kensington Gate
• Tender Price Index Update
• Project Case Study: Ozengell Place
• Women in Construction 2026: Level Up. Build Strong.
• Good Employer 2026 & Living Wage Employer
• Best of Royal Greenwich Business Awards 2026 finalist
• Events: Housing Horizons 2026
  

MA CPD Morning 2026

Following the success of last year’s event, we’re delighted to be hosting another free CPD morning!

Join us at the British Library Knowledge Centre on Wednesday 10th June, from 8.45am to 12.30pm, where Martin Arnold will facilitate a morning of learning and discussion for housing professionals.

Last year, we had a great turnout and heard from expert speakers who sparked great conversations across the room. We’re looking forward to building on that success and delivering another insightful session for you.

The day will include two CPD accredited sessions, and a panel review with industry experts, offering practical insight into the key issues shaping the housing sector. It’s a great opportunity to expand your knowledge, connect with peers and take part in meaningful discussion.

If you’re interested in attending and would like to be notified when registration opens, please contact our Marketing Coordinator, Laetitia Kasongo at lkasongo@martinarnold.co.uk.

Our Social Value Achievements 2024/25

Alongside delivering construction projects, our teams focus on supporting communities, empowering young people, and giving back through partnerships and volunteering.

We are proud to share our first Social Value Report, which captures our ESG and community engagement achievements in 2024/25. Over the year, our staff dedicated hundreds of volunteering hours to initiatives including site improvements, school careers fairs, and many more.

We also continued to support key partners such as the Royal British Veterans Enterprise (RBVE), Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT), and other charitable organisations, providing them with financial donations and hands-on support.

Developing the next generation of construction professionals remained a key focus as we welcomed new apprentices, offered student placements, and visited local schools to share insights into careers in the built environment.

The report highlights our impact across volunteering, charitable contributions, education, training, and community projects, demonstrating Martin Arnold’s ongoing commitment to fostering positive change, creating opportunities, and supporting a more sustainable future.

We’re proud of what our teams accomplished in 2024/25, and our first Social Value Report is a celebration of their dedication and commitment to making a real difference.

Read the full report here:

Social Value Report 2024/25

New Decent Homes Standard 2026

The New Decent Homes Standard (DHS) has landed rather more softly across the affordable housing sector than had been anticipated. Whilst it will undoubtedly mean that Registered Providers (RPs) will still need to find the money for additional investment to their existing homes, the longer implementation period has been welcomed by many, if not most, across the sector.

Described as “proportionate and pragmatic” by the National Housing Federation (NHF), the NHF believe that the way the Government has decided to stretch the deadline for compliance until 2035 means that “it will allow housing associations to prioritise urgent work needed to keep residents safe in their homes as well as balancing broader maintenance and improvement works with continued investment in building much needed new social homes.”

20 years on since the first Decent Homes Standards (DHS) were produced, the standards look to synthesise several different legal and regulatory requirements across the five key criterion, most notably bringing in the requirements from Awaab’s Law of 2023.

A – A home must be free of the most dangerous hazards

B – A home must be in a reasonable state of repair

C – A home must provide core facilities and services

D – A home must provide thermal comfort

E – A home should be free of damp and mould

Criterion A: A home must be free of the most dangerous hazards

• If one Category 1 hazard is found, under a HHSRS assessment, then the home will fail to meet the DHS.

With 29 health and safety hazards across the four bands of hazards, it is bands A-C which focus on Category 1 hazards. These important hazards include hygrothermal (damp, mould and temperature), pollutants (asbestos, carbon monoxide, lead and gas) plus psychological requirements (noise, overcrowding and security) and hygiene and sanitation (water supply, drainage, domestic and food hygiene).

Criterion B: A home must be in a reasonable state of repair

• If one key building component is not in a reasonable state of repair or if two or more other components are not in a reasonable state of repair, then the home will fail the DHS test.

Key components are those that are fundamental to the integrity of the home (roof, walls, windows, doors, kitchens and bathrooms), whereas other components have a less immediate impact but form part of disrepair.

Criterion C: A home must provide core facilities and services

To meet DHS standards, all apartments must have three of the following four as a minimum:

• A kitchen with adequate space and layout
• An appropriately located bathroom and WC
• Adequate external noise insulation
• Adequate size and layout of common entrance areas in blocks of flats

To meet DHS standards, all houses must have two of the following three as a minimum:

• A kitchen with adequate space and layout
• An appropriately located bathroom and WC
• Adequate external noise insulation

The age of the kitchen and bathrooms is no longer a deciding factor but child-resistant window restrictors, which can be overridden, are now required to address the risk of falls.

Criterion D: A home must provide thermal comfort

Going forward, the primary heating system in any home must have a distribution system sufficient to provide heat to the whole home that Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) is being introduced.

The MEES requirement is slightly different for private and social rented sectors but by 1 April 2030, social homes will need to meet a minimum standard on one of the following: fabric performance, smart readiness, or heating system metrics. Alternatively, they will need to have a valid exemption registered. Landlords will have the flexibility to choose which of the three metrics they will meet, and there will be a £10,000 cost cap. Homes meeting EPC Band C or better by 1 April 2030 will be considered compliant until their individual EPCs expire, when they will be reevaluated.

Criterion E: A home should be free of damp and mould

Looking back at the HHSRS in Criterion A and with the introduction of Awaab’s Law, any home with a damp and mould hazard assessed within bands A to H of the HHSRS would fail the DHS requirement. There is further guidance to follow from the Government on this, but the timescales, actions and requirements from Awaab’s Law will be the route to remedy under this criterion.

Martin Arnold is a firm supporter of the new DHS standard. We believe that everyone is entitled to a safe, warm, dry and healthy home and that this is a fundamentally important piece of social infrastructure required for a functioning society and economy.

We believe the stretched timeframes will give RPs the time they need to help budget for the rollout and delivery of the DHS; we think the synthesised approach by the Government, tying regulation and standards together, is sensible.

We are working on several stock condition survey programmes and are actively supporting a variety of clients in damp and mould inspections. We are also helping clients understand and improve the thermal performance and efficiency of their existing homes.

If you would like to discuss any of the above services or projects, please reach out to us through our website Building Surveying – Martin Arnold.

We are CPD Certified in Party Wall Matters!

At Martin Arnold we specialise in Party Wall Matters, with a dedicated Professional Services team who are experts in this field. Party Wall Matters describe a legal process and agreement that is required should either neighbouring owner need to carry out any notifiable work as is defined within the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 (the Act). This can be construction on or up to a boundary line, excavation close to an adjoining property, or works directly to a shared wall or structure.

As of March 2026, we are able to offer our seminar ‘The Party Wall etc. Act 1996 – An introduction to the Act’ which has been certified by the CPD Certification Service, enabling our attendees to formally record their time and conform to Continuing Professional Development principles. The seminar is an opportunity to learn about the Act, the history of the legislation and the notable guidance documents that are available. It will allow attendees to develop a basic understanding of whom should be considered an owner, when the Act applies and the typical sections and notices that will be applicable to your type of building work. The seminar further explores the dispute and resolution processes such as the Party Wall Award negotiations and the discussions that happen between the appointed surveyors.

Further information can be found on our website at Party Wall Matters – Martin Arnold whereby our capability statement is available to download, highlighting how Martin Arnold may be able to assist you and your project. If you would be interested in learning more about our CPD or booking in a session, please get in touch with us at ma@martinarnold.co.uk.

Project Case Study: North Kensington Gate

Flint Housing appointed Martin Arnold to provide a technical due diligence service for the acquisition of 85 leasehold homes within the North Kensington Gate redevelopment. The wider scheme compromises 208 residential units with ground floor commercial space, delivered by City and Docklands and constructed by O’Shea.

Acting as Purchaser’s Agent and Clerk of Works, our team managed the agreement process, carried out quality inspections, and coordinated the timely provision of handover documentation. Key challenges included identifying and addressing technical issues and risks such as potential overheating and compliance with the GLA London Plan, all within tight programme constraints to meet practical completion.

For more details about how we supported this project, you can read the full case study here: https://www.martinarnold.co.uk/project/north-kensington-gate/

Tender Price Index Update

Just as everything seemed to be slowly moving in the right direction…Donald Trump gets involved!

Recent data had generally showed very slow but steady improvements in the market and economy but now all eyes are on what effect the military actions in Iran and the Middle East are going to have on the oil price and what wider consequential effect that will have on other prices in the market. We saw in 2022 the effect that the invasion of Ukraine had on material supply prices and many in the market are fearful of a repeat – especially if the military action is sustained over a prolonged period.

Recent industry data had suggested that the UK construction sector is continuing to move toward a more stable pricing environment following several years of elevated inflation. While tender prices remain on an upward trajectory, the pace of increase has moderated significantly compared with the volatility experienced earlier in the decade. Current indicators suggest that cost escalation is increasingly linked to structural supply chain pressures rather than strong growth in project demand.

Latest figures from the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) indicate that the All-in Tender Price Index increased by approximately 1% between Q4 2025 and Q1 2026, continuing the pattern of modest quarterly growth recorded through 2025. This reflects annual tender price inflation of roughly 2–3%, suggesting that construction pricing has stabilised at a moderate level. While materials price volatility had largely eased, labour availability, specialist subcontractor capacity and compliance requirements continue to exert upward pressure on project costs.

With Government spending on construction expected to increase between now and the next general election anticipated in 2029, some are forecasting that, alongside the supply chain pressures mentioned above, this could lead to elevated levels of inflation in the industry coming in to play in the latter part of 2026 and into 2027 and beyond. The impact of the Iranian conflict may only exacerbate this.

The residential construction sector continues to reflect the slowdown experienced across the wider housing market during 2024 and 2025. Housing starts increased modestly during 2025, with approximately 118,000 new homes started in the year to September 2025, including around 30,000 starts between July and September, representing a 3% increase compared with the same period in 2024. However, activity remains below the levels required to meet national housing targets. Planning delays, financing conditions and developer caution continue to affect development pipelines, and industry forecasts suggest that private housing output may grow by only around 1.5% during 2026, indicating that recovery in the residential construction sector is likely to be gradual.

Taken together, these indicators suggest that the construction market is currently operating within a transitional phase. Short-term tender price growth remains relatively modest, but medium-term pressures associated with labour availability, regulatory requirements and infrastructure investment are likely to sustain inflation across certain sectors. For cost planning purposes, allowances of around 2–3% remain appropriate for many general building projects.

Overall, the sector had appeared to be moving toward more predictable pricing conditions compared with the volatility experienced over the past few years. Nevertheless, supply chain capacity constraints and uneven sector demand mean that early engagement with contractors, clear procurement strategies and realistic inflation allowances will remain essential to maintaining cost certainty as projects progress through 2026.

Project Case Study: Ozengell Place

Martin Arnold provided Employer’s Agent and Clerk of Works services on a new build residential development in Ramsgate, delivering 38 Affordable Rent homes across a mix of 2-3 bedroom houses and 1-2 bedroom flats. The scheme is located on a greenfield site bordering an innovation centre, requiring site levels to be lowered to accommodate the development.

The design of the flats draw inspiration from the surrounding architecture, with materials and double pitched roofs chosen to reflect the local character. Sustainability was a key focus, with homes served by ASHPs, supporting low-carbon heating.

The project presented several challenges, including managing drainage connections, sound performance issues within the flats, and privacy concerns in the rear gardens. Our team worked closely with stakeholders to coordinate redesigning, resolve compliance issues, and ensure high-quality outcomes for residents.

Through site inspections and collaborations with the wider project team, Martin Arnold helped navigate these challenges and support the successful delivery of much needed affordable homes.

To read the complete case study visit: https://www.martinarnold.co.uk/project/ozengell-place/ 

Women in Construction 2026: Level Up. Build Strong.

Women in Construction (WIC) Week 2026 celebrates the achievements, skills and growing impact of women across the construction and built environment. Led by the National Association of Women in Construction, the week highlights the importance of diversity, equality and opportunity in shaping the future of our industry.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), women now represent around 15% of the UK construction workforce, which is approximately 340,000 professionals working across design, management, surveying, architecture and engineering. Representation on site and at senior level remains low, demonstrating that there is still more to be done to ensure construction is a sector where everyone can thrive.

Encouragingly, the number of women entering the industry through apprenticeships is increasing, showing that perceptions are changing and opportunities are widening. Organisations such as Women into Construction, NAWIC UK and Women in Property continue to support this progress by providing mentoring, networking and clear pathways into construction careers.

As part of this year’s Women in Construction Week and International Women’s Day, we’re continuing our annual spotlight on women in our team. Below, our Bid Manager Emma Chadwick and Project Manager Ellie Chan share their experiences in the sector, what inspires them and their thoughts on how the industry continues to move forward.

Emma Chadwick (left) and Ellie Chan (right).

Q. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and about your role at Martin Arnold?

Ellie: I am a Project Manager at Martin Arnold working primarily within development advisory, focusing on the early stages of projects. My role includes advising clients on strategy, reviewing programmes, procurement routes, supporting clients in securing funding, and coordinating consultant teams to help move projects through planning and into the early construction stages.

Emma: I joined Martin Arnold in 2023 as the practice’s Bid Manager. My role is varied, from identifying new tender opportunities and coordinating submissions to producing case studies, award entries and internal staff newsletter. My role focuses on ensuring our written materials are clear, consistent, engaging, and aligned with our brand and strategic goals.

Q. Have you faced any challenges in your career as a woman and, if so, how did you overcome them?

Ellie: I’ve been fortunate to enter the industry at a time when many barriers had already been challenged by the women before us. That said, early in my career I sometimes found myself underestimated — particularly in contractor meetings where I was often the only woman in the room.

Rather than allowing that to discourage me, I used it as motivation. Preparation became my strength; I made sure I knew my material thoroughly, spoke with clarity and confidence, and backed up my views with knowledge. Over time, consistency and professionalism built trust and respect.

Those experiences also shaped how I support others. I strongly believe in lifting others as we progress — whether through mentorship, collaboration or simply creating space for everyone’s voice to be heard. Empowerment in our industry comes from both confidence and collective support.

Emma: Construction is still a very male dominated environment, and it can be daunting to step into spaces where you’re one of only a few women. I’ve experienced moments where I’ve been spoken to in a way that feels patronising or noticeably different from how men speak to one another. Those situations can feed into a sense of imposter syndrome, especially early on.

Over time, what has helped me move past that feeling is building confidence in my own abilities and recognising the value I bring. As I’ve progressed, I’ve become more assured in my expertise and more comfortable asserting myself. I know I do my job to a high standard, and I take pride in the quality of my work which grounds me and helps me navigate those challenges.

Q. Why is it important to recognise and support women across the construction sector?

Ellie: Recognising and supporting women is essential not only for equity but for the future of the industry. Construction thrives on collaboration, innovation and problem-solving — all of which are strengthened by diverse perspectives.

When women are visible, supported and empowered to lead, it challenges outdated perceptions and creates a more inclusive environment for the next generation. Representation matters, and meaningful progress happens when opportunity, respect and recognition are consistent across the sector.

Emma: Recognition and support are essential for helping more women feel that they have a place and a future within the construction industry. The sector has historically been male dominated, and without visible encouragement and acknowledgment, it can be difficult for women to see themselves represented or valued. Many women also balance additional responsibilities outside of work, such as being a parent or caring for an elderly relative. It’s important that the industry recognises these realities and creates an environment where women can thrive professionally without feeling they must compromise other parts of their lives. Flexibility, understanding, and open conversations about individual needs make a significant difference. Companies that actively support women, through flexible working, inclusive policies, and genuine recognition, not only help retain talented people but also strengthen the sector as a whole.

Q. What would your advice be to any women considering a career in construction but feeling uncertain?

Ellie: My advice would be simple: don’t let uncertainty hold you back. Construction is far more diverse and dynamic than many people realise, with opportunities across design, delivery, strategy, sustainability and innovation.

Confidence grows through experience, so focus on learning, asking questions and taking opportunities as they come. Find mentors who support you, trust your perspective and remember that you belong in this industry just as much as anyone else.

Emma: The industry is changing and we’re seeing more women enter roles which historically have been held by men. My advice is to be selective about the company you join to pursue these roles. When interviewing, trust your gut and ask questions that make sure you’re choosing somewhere that matches your values. Look at whether women are being promoted into senior roles. Look at whether the policies that will most effect women (maternity policy, flexible working etc.) reflect an ambition by that company to support women and enable them to grow.

If you’re interested in a career at Martin Arnold, please get in touch through our website, here: Careers – Martin Arnold

The Good Employer Guide 2026 & Celebrating 10+ years as a Living Wage Employer

We are proud to share that Martin Arnold has once again been recognised in the Building Good Employer Guide 2026!

The Good Employer Guide, published by Building, highlights leading construction and built environment firms that are committed to creating a positive workplace culture. The guide focuses on areas such as skills development, diversity and inclusion, staff wellbeing and employee support, showcasing organisations that actively invest in their people and long-term growth.

For us, this recognition reflects the continued effort we placed on developing talent, supporting career progression and fostering an environment where individuals feel valued and empowered.

Alongside this achievement, we are equally proud to confirm that we have been accredited as a Living Wage Employer by the Living Wage Foundation for the eleventh consecutive year.

Being part of the London Living Wage initiative is more than a badge for us; it represents a long-standing belief that people thrive when they are valued, respected, and fairly rewarded for the work they do. Over the last decade, this commitment has helped us build a stronger, more engaged workforce and a culture where wellbeing, fairness and opportunity are central to how we operate.

We are proud to stand alongside employers who share our commitment to fair pay across London, and we remain dedicated to upholding these standards in the years ahead to the benefit of our team.

If you’re interested in a career at Martin Arnold, please get in touch through our website, here: Careers – Martin Arnold.

Best of Royal Greenwich Business Awards 2026 finalist

Martin Arnold has been named a finalist in the Best of Royal Greenwich Business Awards 2026, having been shortlisted for the Local Collaboration Champion Award.

This category recognises organisations that actively strengthen the local supply chain and build meaningful partnerships within the borough. It celebrates businesses that take a local-first approach, contributing to economic growth and supporting resilient communities.

Our work within the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) reflects this commitment. We are currently working with the Council to deliver a five-year programme of capital works and retrofit; this includes delivering a significant social value package in partnership with Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT), alongside consultants Potter Raper and Faithorn Farrell Timms.

Delivered in association with Berkley Group and South East London Chamber of Commerce, the awards celebrate the quality, diversity, and impact of businesses across RBG, recognising their contribution to employment and sustainable growth.

We are proud to be recognised alongside so many businesses making a positive impact in the borough.

Events: Housing Horizons 2026

At the end of March, our team had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting at Housing Horizons 2026.

Housing Horizons brought together housing professionals to explore the future of the sector, with discussions focused on delivery, asset management and long-term strategy. It was a valuable opportunity to engage directly with peers, share insights and discuss the challenges and opportunities shaping housing today.

If you want to find out more about the work we are doing in strategic asset management, please take a look at our website and get in touch with us here: Asset Management – Martin Arnold.