Tough decisions to meet long term ambitions

The term “a decade of national renewal” is one we’re hearing consistently from voices across Westminster, and that sentiment is certainly influencing the emerging 2025 programme from UKREiiF, The UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum. It’s something we are taking high level soundings on from government leaders.

 

As with any budget, there is a lot of white noise about who the winners and losers are. But one thing the built environment industry is relying on is stability and a conviction from policy makers to make the tough decisions and stay the course. I’d suggest the general populace will need to move away from entrenched political positions if we are to get on with addressing the serious problems that the country faces. 

 

Polling by YouGov suggests that 34 per cent of the public believe the budget to be “fair”, with 34 per cent seeing it as “unfair” and 32 per cent “undecided” – opinions couldn’t be more split!

 

Regardless, all indications are that this government has an appetite to at least listen, and we’re hoping this, coupled with stability which will hopefully stop the conveyor belt of leadership in government departments such as housing, will aid the industry.

 

Money being freed up for major infrastructure projects, the cutting of red tape around data centres and a rethink of approaches to planning has been widely welcomed. The pre-Christmas release of the devolution white paper has set the tone as to how regions can secure more funding and autonomy with a strong hint that the government is going to push for more Mayors and more localised decision making around skills and regeneration but there remains huge question marks on the future of pan-regional partnerships which have often been used as a vehicle to bring public and private sector leadership together without the side dish of politicking. It’s been pleasing to see an increased focus on fixing the nation’s transport woes despite the disruption of replacing Louise Haigh, (who in my opinion had hit the ground running with the transport portfolio) with Heidi Alexander; luckily the new Secretary of State’s experience from City Hall should mean a degree of consistency. In taking soundings from senior voices allied to housing, urban centre renewal and rural development, the UK has an action-focused Secretary of State in Angela Rayner who isn’t hanging around. We’ve already seen several stalled schemes jolted into life - not least the greenlighting of Marks and Spencer’s Oxford Street reimagining and the decision to streamline planning policy. It’ll be interesting to see how projects such as Mass Transit in UKREiiF’s home region of West Yorkshire, the future of HS2 and other critical infrastructure schemes unfold over the next five years with these changes.

 

Since the Budget, there has also been the intriguing and potentially exciting announcement on reforms to pensions and the creation of “megafunds” operating in a similar way to counterparts in Australia and Canada. Earlier this year, we were delighted to announce the appointment of Lord Richard Harrington as Chair of the UKREiiF Advisory Board. With his expertise in foreign direct investment demonstrated by his independent review, and with his principles adopted fully by the new government, we’re hoping to play an ever-growing role in helping to fully unlock this investment for our industry.

 

One of the principal desires of many regions we deal with is to end competitive tendering for funding; similarly we are seeing certain parts of the UK that are using UKREiiF to carve out their own niche in relation to certain sectors. If you’re a delegate coming to Leeds for the event in 2025, I think it will be very apparent which government missions are gathering pace with the likes of the New Towns Task Force and Great British Energy set to take centre stage. As ever, we welcome any organisation that wants to work with us to connect those priorities with policy and actual investment!

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To find out more about UKREiiF and the team, visit here www.ukreiif.com.

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