The UK’s infrastructure pipeline is getting busier.
The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that market sector investment in UK infrastructure reached £31.3 billion in 2025, an increase of 12.1% compared with 2024. At the same time, the net stock of infrastructure assets increased by 3.1% to £506.7 billion.
Construction activity is moving in the same direction. The total value of new infrastructure construction work reached £37.3 billion in 2025, up 3.2% on the previous year.
For the construction and infrastructure sector, these figures point to something bigger than a strong year of investment. They show where activity is concentrating, particularly across energy, water, sewerage and electricity, and highlight the growing amount of work taking place around the UK’s existing and new infrastructure networks.
And when more projects involve excavation, connections, upgrades and new infrastructure, understanding what is already beneath the ground becomes increasingly important.
Energy is leading the increase in infrastructure investment
Energy is currently at the centre of the UK’s infrastructure investment growth.
According to the ONS, investment in energy infrastructure increased by £3.1 billion in 2025, representing a 19.9% increase on the previous year. Total energy infrastructure investment reached £18.8 billion, making it the largest category within the ONS’s market sector infrastructure estimates.
The growth isn’t isolated to energy.
Investment also increased across water supply, mining and quarrying, warehousing and transport support, and sewerage and waste. Telecommunications, meanwhile, saw investment fall by £0.2 billion. It’s first reduction since 2020.
This creates a fairly clear picture of where some of the UK’s infrastructure activity is heading. More investment is being directed towards the systems that keep homes, businesses and industry connected from electricity and water networks to sewerage and waste infrastructure.
For contractors and project teams, these aren’t simply large figures on a national balance sheet. They represent real projects, real sites and, in many cases, real excavation work.
Water, sewerage and electricity are seeing particularly strong construction growth
The construction figures make the picture even more interesting.
In 2025, new work infrastructure construction was worth £37.3 billion, with water, sewerage and electricity accounting for some of the strongest increases.
Water construction increased by 17.8%, while sewerage saw a much larger 74.8% increase. Electricity construction also rose by 15.3%.
Combined, these three areas accounted for 46.5% of all new infrastructure construction work in 2025.
That is significant because these are sectors where underground infrastructure is fundamental to the work.
New electricity infrastructure can involve extensive cabling. Water and sewerage projects can require work around existing mains, pipes and drainage networks. Even when the project itself is new, the surrounding site rarely is.
There may already be electricity cables, gas pipelines, water mains, telecommunications infrastructure, sewers and other buried services crossing or surrounding the proposed works.
That means the increase in infrastructure construction also increases the importance of knowing what is already there.
The North West is one of the fastest-growing regions
The ONS figures also give an indication of where this activity is taking place.
Scotland recorded the highest level of new infrastructure construction work in 2025 at £5.8 billion, overtaking London, which recorded £5.2 billion.
But the North West is particularly noteworthy when looking at annual growth.
New infrastructure construction in the North West increased by 23.4% in 2025, making it one of the three fastest-growing regions in Great Britain.
The East of England recorded the highest increase at 31.7%, followed by the North West and South West at 23.4% and 23.1% respectively.
For businesses operating across the region, this is an important trend to watch.
Infrastructure investment isn’t happening in one central location. As activity increases across different regions, more contractors, consultants, developers and infrastructure teams are likely to be dealing with projects where existing underground services need to be identified before work can safely progress.
It’s not just about new infrastructure
One of the more interesting points in the ONS data is the balance between new construction and the infrastructure that is already in place.
The UK’s market sector infrastructure stock reached £506.7 billion in 2025, up 3.1% from the previous year. This represents the accumulated infrastructure assets still in use across the market sector.
Energy alone accounted for £198.9 billion, followed by mining and quarrying at £103.2 billion and water supply at £79.8 billion.
In other words, new infrastructure is being added to an already extensive network of existing assets.
That matters when construction takes place.
A new development, road improvement, utility connection or infrastructure project doesn’t necessarily start with a blank site. New works often have to be designed and constructed around infrastructure that may have been installed years or even decades earlier.
This is where the quality of information available before work starts can make a real difference.
Private investment is playing a bigger role
There is another shift within the figures worth noting.
Government investment in infrastructure fell slightly in 2025, decreasing by 0.7% to £30.8 billion. Meanwhile, the private sector accounted for 53% of new infrastructure construction, with public sector work making up the remaining 47%.
It is not simply a case of the UK government funding a wave of infrastructure construction. Private investment is playing an increasingly important role in delivering new infrastructure.
For commercially driven projects, time and cost are naturally important considerations.
Unexpected underground services can create both.
A previously unidentified cable or pipe can mean redesigning part of a scheme, changing an excavation approach, arranging a diversion, dealing with damage or simply stopping work while the situation is investigated.
None of those outcomes are particularly helpful when a project is working to a programme and a budget.
Where do utility searches fit into this?
This is where the statistics connect with one of the less visible parts of the construction process.
Before excavation begins, project teams need to understand what underground services could be present within or around a site. A desktop utility search draws on information from relevant utility companies to build an initial picture of the buried infrastructure, not a guarantee that every service will be mapped with absolute accuracy, but a critical layer of information for planning, design and construction decisions before ground is broken.
For a sector seeing rising investment in energy, water, sewerage and electricity infrastructure, that early information matters more than ever.
This is exactly the area Cornerstone Projects specialises in. We provide desktop underground utility searches across the UK, covering electricity, gas, water, sewers and telecommunications, with additional options depending on project needs. Searches can be used at the acquisition, feasibility, design or construction stage of a project, and we also support contractors, highways projects and utility companies delivering infrastructure programmes.
With 24/7 online ordering, fast turnaround and a single point of contact for underground utility information nationwide, Cornerstone makes it straightforward to get the checks done before work begins.
What this means for infrastructure projects in 2026
The ONS data doesn’t tell us exactly what every construction project will look like over the next few years. The figures are also still classed as official statistics in development, meaning the methodology and estimates are continuing to develop and some figures may be revised.
But the direction of travel is clear.
Infrastructure investment increased significantly in 2025. Energy remains the largest area of market sector infrastructure investment, while water, sewerage and electricity recorded particularly strong growth in new construction. The North West was also among the fastest-growing regions for infrastructure construction.
For the construction industry, that means more activity around critical infrastructure and more projects that need to interact with the UK’s already extensive network of underground services.
The earlier those services are understood, the more informed the project team can be when making decisions about design, planning and construction.
Infrastructure investment may happen above ground, but some of the biggest project risks can still be beneath it.
As the UK’s infrastructure programme continues to grow, carrying out the right checks before work begins isn’t just another box to tick. It’s part of understanding the site you’re about to build on.
Planning a project? Get in touch with Cornerstone Projects to discuss your utility search requirements.
