Ahead of land, consent or even capital, it is the supply and treatment of water that is impacting the growth of housing, renewables and digital infrastructure in many areas. In an Expert Focus article for WaterBriefing, James Cattermole, ​​​​Partner - Infrastructures at Carter Jonas takes a look at water as a limiting factor on economic growth.

The Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has confirmed that the Grand Union Canal Transfer and Minworth Water Recycling schemes have passed their RAPID gate three conditional review, and will now progress to RAPID gate four.

Ofwat has announced the launch of a combined gated process to oversee, support and assess the delivery of large-scale water infrastructure projects for the Major Water Infrastructure Programme.

Southern Water has opened the market engagement process for the Hampshire Water Transfer and Water Recycling Project. The utility is seeking feedback in particular from investors, construction and operating and maintenance contractors and/or potential consortia (which may involve their wider supply chain) that may be interested in the project.

The Regulators' Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has agreed a request from South East Water to delay its Gate 2 submission for its proposed new reservoir just north of the village of Broad Oak, near Canterbury in Kent.

The partnership between Ofwat, the Environment Agency and the Drinking Water Inspectorate.has given the go-ahead for two Strategic Resource Option schemes (SROs) where Affinity Water and Severn Trent are the joint solutions owners to proceed to Gate 4 in the RAPID programme.

Global engineering and built environment consultancy Arup, together with whole-lifecycle engineering services provider Binnies, has been appointed by Southern Water to help deliver the planning phase of the Thames to Southern Transfer project (T2ST).

The Regulators' Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development (RAPID) has written to Anglian Water and Cambridge Water informing them that the current gate three date in the RAPID programme for the Fens Reservoir is to be delayed beyond 30 April 2026 to a later date.

A new report is warning that the Government risks significant increases in consumer water bills and missing its housebuilding targets unless it launches an Olympic-style national champion for reservoirs and hands new powers to regional Mayors.

The Regulators’ Alliance for Progressing Infrastructure Development has published its Annual Review for April 2024 to March 2025 period which flags up RAPID's achievements and areas for improvement. Key concerns highlighted by stakeholders include capacity and delivery confidence, with supply chain readiness, funding models, and programme management identified as areas of uncertainty.