性吧电台 safety regulator delays, new towns and infrastructure were the biggest topics at this year鈥檚 gathering of construction professionals in Leeds as the industry debated the degree to which a huge amount of work could be threatened by systemic challenges
UKREiiF is getting bigger by the year, with more than 16,000 professionals attending the 2025 construction conference in Leeds this week during three days of sunny weather, networking, panel discussions and robust amounts of booze. It has grown so big over the past few years that it seems almost to have outgrown the city of Leeds itself.
A running joke among attendees was the varying quality of accommodation people had managed to secure. All of the budget hotels in the city were fully booked months in advance of the conference, with many - including at least one member of Parliament - reduced to kipping in bed and breakfasts of a questionable nature. Many were forced to stay in nearby towns including York, Wakefield and Bradford and catch the train to the conference each morning.
But these snags served as ice breakers for more important conversations at an event which has come at a key pivot point for the industry. With the government on the brink of launching its 10-year industrial strategy and its new towns programme, opportunity was in the air.
Networking events between government departments and potential suppliers of all sectors were well attended, although many discussion panels focused on the question of how all of this work would be paid for. And hanging over the conference like a storm cloud were the mounting issues at the 性吧电台 Safety Regulator which are continuing to cause expensive delays to high rise schemes across the country.
While many attendees eyed a huge amount of potential work to fill up pipelines, it was clear the industry is still facing some systemic challenges which could threaten a much-needed recovery following a long period of turmoil.
How will the issues at the 性吧电台 Safety Regulator be fixed?
You did not even have to go inside an event titled 鈥淕ateways and Growing Pains: Tackling the 性吧电台 Safety Act鈥� to see how much this issue is affecting construction at the moment. The packed out tent was overflowing into the space outside, with those inside stood like sardines to watch a panel discussion about what has been happening in the high rise residential sector over the past year.
Audience members shared their horror stories of schemes which have been waiting for the best part of a year to get gateway 2 approval from the regulator, which is needed to start construction. There was a palpable sense of anger in the crowd, one professional describing the hold-ups which had affected his scheme as a 鈥渄isgrace鈥�.
Others highlighted the apparent inconsistency of the regulator鈥檚 work. One attendee told how two identical buildings had been submitted to the regulator in separate gateway 2 applications and assigned to two separate technical teams for approval. One application had received no follow up questions, while the other had been extensively interrogated. 鈥淭he industry should hold its head in shame with regard to what happened at Grenfell, but post that, it鈥檚 just complete disarray,鈥� he said.
While many are currently focusing on delays at pre-construction, others raised the looming gateway 3 approvals which are needed before occupation. Pareto Projects director Kuli Bajwa said: 鈥淕ateway 2 is an issue, but when we get to gateway 3, we鈥檙e committed to this project, money鈥檚 been spent, debt鈥檚 been taken out and week on week it鈥檚 costing money. It just keeps wracking up, so we need to resolve that with the regulator asap.鈥�
>> See also: Homes England boss calls on government to fix 鈥榰nacceptably slow鈥� gateway 2 approvals
Caddick Construction managing director for Yorkshire and the North East Steve Ford added: 鈥淚 think where it will probably get interesting and quite heated I guess is at the point where some of these schemes get rejected at gateway 3, and the finger pointing starts as to why it鈥檚 not got through gateway 3.鈥�
Simon Latson, head of living for the UK and Ireland at JLL, offered a potential solution. 鈥淲e will be dealing with the regulator all the way through the construction process, and you would like to think that there is a collaborative process where you get early engagement and you can say 鈥業鈥檓 12 weeks out from completion, I鈥檓 going to start sending you all of my completion documents, my fire alarm certificate鈥�, and say 鈥榯hanks very much that鈥檚 the last thing on my list鈥�. That鈥檚 probably wishful thinking but that鈥檚 got to be a practical solution, as early engagement as possible.鈥�
How is the government going to pay for its infrastructure strategy?
Ministers are expected to outline the government鈥檚 ten-year infrastructure strategy next month, outlining ambitions not only for transport but social infrastructure including schools and healthcare. At an event titled 鈥淎 Decade of National Renewal: What Will This Mean for our Regions, Towns and Cities?鈥�, a panel of experts including London deputy mayor Jules Pipe highlighted how much of this new infrastructure is needed to enable the government to achieve its housing targets. But how will it be funded?
Tom Wagner, cofounder of investment firm Knighthead Capital, which operates largely in the West Midlands with assets including Birmingham City FC, gave a frank assessment of the government鈥檚 policies on attracting private sector investment. 鈥淭here have been a lot of policies in the UK that have forced capital allocators to go elsewhere,鈥� he said, calling for lower taxes and less restrictions on private finance in order to stop investors fleeing to more amenable destinations overseas.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e found in the UK is, as we鈥檙e seeking to tax those who can most afford it, that鈥檚 fine, but unless they鈥檙e chained here, they鈥檒l just go somewhere else. That creates a bad dynamic because those people are the capital providers, and right now what we need is capital infusion to foster growth.鈥�
Pipe offered a counterpoint, suggesting low taxes were not the only reason which determines where wealthy people live and highlighted the appeal of cities which had been made livable by good infrastructure. 鈥淭here are people living in some very expensive cities but they live there because of the cosmopolitan culture and the parks and the general vibe, and that鈥檚 what we have to get right. And the key thing that leads to that is good transport, making it livable.鈥�
Pipe also criticised the penny-pinching tendencies of past governments on infrastructure investment, including on major transports schemes like Crossrail 2 which were mothballed due to a lack of funds and a perceived lack of value added. 鈥淎ll these things were fought in the trenches with the Treasury about 鈥榦h well there鈥檚 no cost benefit to this鈥�. And where is the major transport like that where after ten years people are saying 鈥榥o one鈥檚 using it, that was a really bad idea, it鈥檚 never opened up any new businesses or new homes鈥�? It鈥檚 absolute nonsense. But that seems to be how we judge it,鈥� he said.
One solution could be funding through business rates, an approach used on the Northern Line Extension to Battersea Power Station. But the benefits of this have been largely overlooked, Pipe said. 鈥淥ne scheme every ten or twenty years is not good enough. We need to do this more frequently鈥�.
What is the latest on the government鈥檚 new towns programme?
Where are the new towns going to be built? It was a question which everybody was asking during the conference, with rumours circulating around potential sites in Cambridge of Plymouth. The government is set to reveal the first 12 locations of 10,000 homes each in July, an announcement which will inevitably unleash an onslaught of NIMBY outcries from affected communities.
A large crowd gathered for an 鈥渆xclusive update鈥� on the programme from Michael Lyons, chair of the New Towns Taskforce appointed by the government to recommend suitable sites, with many in attendance hoping for a big reveal on the first sites. They were disappointed, but Lyons did provide some interesting insights into the taskforce鈥檚 work. Despite a 鈥渞ather hairbrained鈥� timescale given to the team, which was only established last September, Lyons said it was at a 鈥渧ery advanced stage鈥� in its deliberations after spending the past few months touring the country speaking to developers, landowners and residents in search of potential sites.
>> See also: Don鈥檛 scrimp on quality standards for new towns, taskforce chair tells housebuilders
鈥淲e stand at a crucial moment in the history of home building in this country,鈥� he said. The government鈥檚 commitment to so many large-scale developments could herald a return to ambitious spatial planning, he said, with communities strategically located close to the most practical locations for the supply of new infrastructure needed for people to move in.
鈥淚nfrastructure constraints, whether it鈥檚 water or power, sewage or transport, must no longer be allowed to hold back growth, and we鈥檝e been shocked as we looked around the country at the extent to which plans ready to be advanced are held back by those infrastructure problems,鈥� he said. The first sites will be in places where much of this infrastructure is already in place, he said, allowing work to start immediately.
An emphasis on 鈥渋dentity and legibility鈥� is also part of the criteria for the initial locations, with the government鈥檚 design and construction partners to be required to put placemaking at the heart of their schemes. 鈥�
We need to be confident that these can be distinctive places, and that the title of new town, whether it鈥檚 an urban extension or whether it鈥檚 even a reshaping of an existing urban area or a genuine greenfield site, that it genuinely can be seen and will be seen by its residents as a distinct community.鈥�
How do you manage a working public-private partnership?
Successful public partnerships between the public sector and private housebuilders will be essential for the government to achieve its target to build 1.5 million homes by the end of this parliament in 2029. At an event hosted by Muse, a panel discussed where past partnerships have gone wrong and what lessons have been learned.
Mark Bradbury, Thurrock council鈥檚 chief officer for strategic growth partnerships and special projects, spoke of the series of events which led to L&Q pulling out of the 2,800-home Purfleet-on-Thames scheme in Essex and its replacement by housing association Swan.
鈥淚 think it was partly the complex nature of the procurement process that led to market conditions being quite different at the end of the process to the start,鈥� he said.
鈥淪ome of the original partners pulled out halfway through because their business model changed. I think the early conversations at Purfleet on Thames around the masterplan devised by Will Alsop, the potential for L&Q to be one of the partners, the potential for a development manager, the potential for some overseas investment, ended up with L&Q deciding it wasn鈥檛 for their business model going forwards. The money from the far east never materialised, so we ended up with somebody who didn鈥檛 have the track record, and there was nobody who had working capital.
鈥淏y then it was clear that the former partnership wasn鈥檛 right, so trying to persuade someone to join a partnership which wasn鈥檛 working was really difficult. So you鈥檝e got to be really clear at the outset that this is a partnership which is going to work, you know where the working capital is coming from, and everybody鈥檚 got a track record.鈥�
Muse development director for residential Duncan Cumberland outlined a three-part 鈥渁ccelerated procurement process鈥� which the developer has been looking at in order to avoid some of the setbacks which can hit large public private partnerships on housing schemes. The first part is developing a masterplan vision which has the support of community stakeholders, the second is outlining a 鈥渞ealistic and honest鈥� business plan which accommodates viability challenges, and the third is working closely with public sector officials on a strong business case.
A good partnership is almost like being in a marriage, Avison Young鈥檚 London co-managing director Kat Hanna added. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to just walk away. We鈥檙e in it now, so we need to make it work, and perhaps being in a partnership can often be more revealing in tough times.鈥�
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