Extremes of weather made the first half of 2026 an ongoing trial for construction companies. Quarter one was one of the wettest starts to the year, making building difficult. Quarter two was one of the driest with a succession of record-breaking heatwaves that also made building difficult and more costly for developers and main contractors

With additional costs to keep sites accessible, and brick work gangs stood down for weeks on end, because of extremes of weather, the lost capacity will never be fully recovered. However, construction is resilient and builders did their best to recover lost ground where they could.

Geopolitical tensions and their effect on inflation will knock consumer confidence and dampen demand in the second half. As households battle with inflation, most notably on energy and fuel, decisions to improve or move are being put on hold. A new Labour Prime Minister is sticking to the Government’s housebuilding pledge while looking to a revival of social housing to get building back on track, but the overall target has never looked further out of reach. With mortgage rates and inflation rising, and further Bank of England base rate cuts looking unlikely, the housing market urgently needs a  stimulus.

As a challenger brand, our sales team is extremely active, focusing on the core activities that deliver results: supporting our partners with stocking, specification and installation advice, acting as an extension of merchants’ sales teams, and bringing them orders.

The on-off US-Iran conflict has ramped up oil prices and driven cost price inflation in transport and materials such as PVC, aluminium and glass. An exceptional price increase in the second half of the year will be necessary for Keylite but will be kept to a minimum as we recognise the impact rising prices have on construction activity.

Keylite focuses on innovation. We have brought several new products to market this year, creating solutions to the Future Homes Standard for developers, and margin opportunities for merchants. To promote some of these new innovations, in conjunction with our sister brands in the Keystone Group, we have hosted 175 National and Regional developers, SAP assessors and specifiers at a series of Innovation Days between 2025 and 2026.