Build our future with the next Government

Last night marked the end of my tenure as President of the British Property Federation as I hand over to Jessica Hardman .

A significant amount of my time as President has been defined by preparation for the General Election due to take place tomorrow.

Over the last year the sector has risen to this opportunity, with both main parties’ manifestos reflecting many of the policies put forward in the BPF manifesto, launched earlier this year.

Of course, being pro-growth and pro-business in a campaign or in opposition is easy enough. The real test lies in how you govern.

It will be the BPF’s new role not only to help the next Government deliver on their pro-growth policies, but also to hold them to account for what they have promised.

While I am not making any personal election predictions, the polls are pointing to a Labour victory, so the following comments are centred on that as a working assumption, but should apply to whoever forms the next Government.

A message I have been emphasising through our political engagement recently is the need for stability.

Stability in leadership by allowing individuals who have gained experience as shadow ministers and built relationships with their sector – such as the shadow planning minister Matthew Pennycook – the opportunity to bring that experience to bear within Government.

Stability in the framework we’re operating within. While we all want to see reforms to various regulation – not least in planning policy – it’s important these are targeted, not throwing everything up in the air which will only cause delay and limit growth. A similar point applies to organisations like Homes England with their increasingly clear remit.

Stability in strategy. In the last 14 years we’ve had various attempts at economic strategies, from industrial strategies to levelling up, which have chopped and changed depending on the political weather. We need the next Government to stick with a plan longer than the average electoral cycle.

That’s what we would like to see. But, of course, relationships are a two-way street, and the property sector also needs to continue to earn the right to partner with Government. In my address yesterday, I set out three ideas to guide our actions.

First – to demonstrate that we are unashamedly pro-growth. Should they form the next Government, the Labour Party have set out their expectations of us in their mission to kickstart economic growth.

If we can secure the domestic reforms we want to see, and attract the international attention our sector deserves, we’ll demonstrate how crucial we are to this mission.

Second – we need to understand what is expected of us beyond growth. Expectations are rising of UK business – and we need to respond. Because there can at times be a tension between a relentless focus on growth and other outcomes politicians and the public want to see.

The transition to net zero. Restoring nature across the UK. Spreading opportunity. Delivering safer, thriving high streets for local communities.

We need to demonstrate that these outcomes can be delivered alongside growth and are in fact intrinsically linked to it. This isn’t an either/or – it’s a both, together. And our sector has a role to play in all of them.

Third – in navigating the challenges of today, we can’t neglect the future. Indeed, some of the challenges we face as a nation are the result of short-term focus, often driven by political expediency.

We need to respond to the now, but also anticipate and shape the next.

For an industry like real estate – which can perhaps be guilty of moving slowly at times – this might be the hardest for us to adjust to.

But adjust we must. Britain may well be a radically different place at the end of the next parliament – how will our sector have changed as a result? Let’s demonstrate our ability to shape that change rather than allow ourselves to be shaped by it.

Following a busy year, I’d like to thank Melanie Leech and the executive team at the BPF for their support and hard work.

Thanks to them and the support of our members, we’re in a strong position to start building a new future with the next Government.