The industry has given a broad welcome to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ speech, speech outlining several ambitions, primarily focused on enabling projects and planning permissions.
Regarded by many as a re-set following a bumpy start for the Government and Chancellor since the election and the Autumn Budget, her speech has been given a cautious green light.
In her speech, Chancellor Reeves outlines several ambitions:
- Expansion plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport
- New plans to deliver the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor
- Unlocking £7.9bn investment to improve water infrastructure, including nine new reservoirs
- Review of the “Green Book,” which is used to evaluate large investment projects.
Muyiwa Oki, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, said: “The Government's focus on delivering new homes and national infrastructure is great news – these are essential drivers for economic growth and moves to unlock land near transport hubs can be transformative.
“We need vibrant, well-connected neighbourhoods with everything from accessible transport to green space and bustling local centres.
“But quality matters when creating new developments. Architecture plays a crucial role in ensuring that new places are sustainable, liveable and fit for the future. We remain ready to work with government to meet this challenge head on.
“We look forward to seeing more detail in the forthcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill."
At the Autumn Budget 2024, Chancellor Reeves scaled back her interference in the planning process. However, in her speech today, she returned to the position that a well-functioning planning system is crucial to not only enabling growth but, more importantly, sustaining it.
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), commented: “The planning system is the main barrier to growth. When decisions are delayed, or worse, intentionally stalled, it halts investment in essential infrastructure, such as clean water, transport networks that connect towns, cities, regions, and nations, the homes that create fairer societies, and the premises that investors and innovators need.
“The UK has lacked a Chancellor that understands that their role is not merely to make fiscal decisions but ensure the barriers to higher GDP and greater business confidence, such as the planning system, underpin their taxation strategies. There is a lot to unpick for the Government and the Treasury but after more than a decade of the NFB highlighting the need for major planning reforms, it is good to see that message get through.”
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight at the NFB said it is clear that without planning permission, the UK faces a range of critical barriers to growth.
“Too few homes have made housing unaffordable, limiting the workforce capacity of our town, cities, and regions,” he said. “An unwillingness to build reservoirs, treatment plants, pylons, and power stations has led to poor water quality and rising energy costs. Delays to road, rail, and airport projects have scaled back ambitions, increased transport emissions, and stifled clean energy innovation. Opposition to commercial premises, especially in regional plans, has deterred business from investing, expanding, and forming partnerships. We cannot even get the go ahead for schools, hospitals, and community spaces.
“We must accept that there is no growth without business and innovation, and no business without a connected world, workforce, and investment. The Chancellor is correct to return her focus to fixing the primary barrier to UK growth: the broken planning system.”
The National Housebuilding Council (NHBC) welcomed the significant ambition presented by the Chancellor.
“Getting Britain building again is essential for growth, and as the UK's leading warranty provider for new build homes, we are encouraged to see the government's commitment to removing blockages in the planning system including in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor,” said Steve Wood, CEO of NHBC.
“The key to delivering any of this is tackling the chronic skills shortage in construction. We need to see a similar focus on the skills gap as well as planning reform. NHBC is shaking-up house-building training, with its investment of £100m in the launch of 12 new multi-skill training hubs across the UK. These hubs will produce tradespeople who will support the house-building sector’s productivity by delivering quality new homes when and where needed.
“NHBC’s national network of multi-skill hubs will build on our current bricklaying hubs which are already upskilling the existing workforce, as well as a new generation of tradespeople. Their expertise will be at the heart of delivering government’s ambitious 1.5m new homes target. We are already seeing apprentices at the NHBC Training Hub in Cambridge qualifying in 14-18 months, many with distinctions. These tradespeople, who have undertaken our industry-recognised and immersive training are now supporting the local workforce to build on the Chancellor's growth plans for the region.”
