Good and bad news for the construction sector

There is a good feeling about returning to work feeling refreshed after a few weeks off work but sadly the feelings around the construction and housing sector aren’t. After spending a week enjoying the sights and amazing buildings in Northumberland and Scottish Borders it is regrettable to hear that the construction adviser role has been axed by the business minister Sajid Javid – which ultimately raised concerns about the delivery of Construction 2025.



The Construction 2025 includes four specific targets, a 33% reduction in the cost of construction, a 50% cut in greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment, a 50% cut in the time taken to build, and a 50% cut in the trade gap that exists between construction exports and imports. But now I am concerned that given the leadership council has been reduced from 30 to 12 and the adviser role axed that delivering this is unlikely. This is summed up effectively by Graham Watts, chief executive the Construction Industry Council, said: “The future of Construction 2025 now is ambiguous, and I think it’s likely the specifics will be buried. There will be new targets and new objectives - essentially they’ll move on. The industry needs some clarity on this as soon as possible.”



It hasn’t all been bad news after it was revealed there could be twice as much brownfield land in England and Wales than official government figures have suggested, raising the prospect that many more homes than expected could be built on former industrial sites. To me brownfield land is a useful resource to help deliver the homes needed for the country but there is still the issue that planning is too complicated and time consuming.

But the second piece of good news was the plans to grant automatic permission, in principle, for homes on brownfield sites that are identified in a new statutory register of brownfield land. This effectively gives automatic planning permission – sounds good but also extremely dangerous and surely there needs to be some element of checking a development before letting a developer go full steam ahead. So it is welcome news but more details are needed.

There is a need for land to become available quicker and therefore I am all for the changes to the permission process but I still think there needs to be an element of checking otherwise you run the risk of people taking advantage. These plans should help unlock areas that need redevelopment but remember these sites are usually contaminated land or need significant infrastructure investment and this needs careful management to ensure it is fit for purpose. It’s all a good move and things are in the right direction but let’s just be sensible about what developments we simply rubber stamp.

Feel free to contact me 0113 288 2276 or lee.a.wilkinson@uk.pwc.com if you wish to discuss this blog or anything relevant to property and construction.

Enjoy the weekend

Lee