Along the River Thames east of London, unbuilt homes and a tunnel first considered in the 1980s have become a symbol of a wider British problem: major projects that take years to approve, cost a fortune to promote, and arrive too late to lift growth.

The Lower Thames Crossing

About ten miles downriver from Purfleet-on-Thames, digging has finally begun on the £10 billion Lower Thames Crossing road tunnel, designed to unblock a choke point on Britain's haulage spine. The planning application alone runs to more than 359,000 pages, according to Reuters.

Local business voices say years of uncertainty have held back investment, while consultants who worked on the project say failure to work with local officials and environmental groups can itself cause delay. Securing planning consent for a major infrastructure project can cost between £500 million and £1 billion, one consultant told Reuters.

The wider economic picture

The Boston Consulting Group found the UK was the slowest among several countries studied for infrastructure pre-construction work, of which planning is a large part. The International Monetary Fund puts UK growth at 1.3% this year, among the fastest in the Group of Seven but less than half its average pace in the 15 years before the 2007-09 financial crisis, with growth slowing to 1.2% in 2027.

Chancellor John Healey is due to deliver his first Budget on Wednesday, with few changes to tax and spending expected but plans signalled to cut regulation and the cost of doing business.

Sources: Reuters, Down by the River Thames, a failure to build holds back Britain's growth, 26 October 2026.