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Rolls-Royce’s (RR.) small modular reactor (SMR) design has passed the next stage in its permitting process in the UK after the government “justified” the design. This is part of the long planning process but further ministerial approval for the technology. Parliamentary approval is still needed. 

The decision came at the same time as the government announced it would make nuclear power plant planning and permitting easier. The Rolls-Royce SMR will still need to go through the existing process, which a review last year said was “central to this relative decline” in the UK’s nuclear sector. 

“The increasing complexity and risk aversion of our regulatory system has contributed to a weakening of the UK’s leadership and competitiveness [in nuclear power],” said John Fingleton, who led the review.

The changes will remove “duplicative or overly complex guidance, rules and regulations that have been holding back our nuclear ambitions”, said chancellor Rachel Reeves on Friday morning.

One example used in the Fingleton review was the measures at Hinkley Point C to reduce the number of fish killed by its water intake. A £700mn programme will save “0.083 salmon per year, along with 0.028 sea trout, 6 river lamprey, 18 Allis shad, and 528 twaite shad”, the review said. 

It heard from environmental groups as well, some of whom were said to “think the current system works well and that high costs are mainly due to developers not planning enough for mitigation”.

Hinkley Point C’s total budget is now £49bn, compared to an £18bn estimate in 2016.

Berkeley Group (BKG) said that it is on track to meet 2026 guidance in a trading statement covering the four months to the end of February.

The housebuilder, whose sites are largely in and around London, said that sales remained “good”, even though geopolitical events and macro-economic uncertainty had constrained consumer confidence.

As a result it was on track to achieve its £450mn profit before tax guidance for each of 2026 and 2027, and finish this year with net cash of £300mn.

The company also noted that progress had been made with speeding up approvals for tall developments in the capital, but that “there is still a long way to go”. Shares fell 3 per cent in early trading.

Glenveagh Properties (GLV) has demonstrated that the Irish housebuilders are continuing to outperform their UK counterparts following Cairn Homes’s (C5H) results last week.

The company reported profit before tax of €125mn on revenues of €926mn in 2025, up 10 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. Both were in line with the guidance in Glenveagh’s January trading statement.

The company’s 2026 guidance points to continued growth. It expects completions to rise 7 per cent to 2,750 and for its gross margin to remain above 21 per cent. As a result, it expects 2026 EPS of up to 21c, up from 20.0c in 2025.

“The policy environment for housing is supportive thanks to the changes that the Government has implemented in its first year,” said chief executive Stephen Garvey. Shares fell 2 per cent in early trading.