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Building a s Better Future: How do we create places ready for the next 30 years?
From the Experts
Dominic Curran Head of Communications, Real Estate:UK
From infrastructure and investment to planning, technology and placemaking, the decisions made today will shape how the UK’s towns and cities evolve over the decades ahead. We bring together voices from across the built environment and regional economy to explore what needs to change — and how long-term thinking, collaboration and innovation can help create places that are resilient, investable and fit for the future.
Q: When we talk about ‘building a better future,’ what does the UK most need to get right over the next 10–30 years?
on the international stage like that. The thing that could be improved is the joined-up collaboration.
Dominic Curran: We need to get the basics right. Our grid cannot support the new development for which there is planning permission, let alone the amount that we actually need. We need to boost our water resilience – more reservoirs and investment to protect us from more floods and droughts. We need to futureproof our built environment for the more extreme heat. We need investment to reduce energy demand but also ensure homes and workplaces can be cooled in a sustainable way when needed – the challenges are immense.
Joe Manning: Truly investable places offer more than individual development opportunities. International investors are not simply choosing a site; they are choosing an ecosystem in which they can recruit, innovate and grow.
Julian Best: Across London, we should continue to adopt long-term commitments and continuity to encourage investors, development and new businesses to join and thrive in the area. The key ingredients for a bright future for London are already there: fantastic educational opportunities, innovation and research. But the city does still need to invest a lot in digital technology, and we need to ensure our offering is fit for purpose and resilient for the future. Q: What makes a place genuinely investable today, and what needs to change to make more UK towns and cities competitive for long-term capital? Julian Best: Concentration and geography really matter. If you look at that corridor between King’s Cross and Paddington, you won’t find another cluster of education, innovation and land ownership anywhere else that’s able to put itself
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Julian Best Executive Property Director, The Howard de Walden Estate
Q: If you could change one thing tomorrow that would materially improve the UK’s ability to build the future we need, what would it be? Dominic Curran: There isn’t one really big thing that will be a silver bullet – the viability crisis has been caused by lots of smaller things being layered on top of each other, so only fixing one of those will have a limited impact. If it had to be just one thing, the answer, paradoxically and counter-intuitively, might be: stop the Government from doing anything that affects the industry for a decade. Stability has its merits too. Joe Manning: I would give city regions greater freedom to turn investment interest into delivery. Local leaders understand their assets, opportunities and barriers, and Greater Manchester’s journey has shown that places can move faster when the foundations of growth are aligned behind a common vision. With the right powers and longterm funding certainty, city regions can unlock sites, accelerate decisions and give international businesses greater confidence to invest in the UK.
Nick McKeogh Chief Executive, NLA
Joe Manning Managing Director, Invest Manchester
Material, labour and finance costs have doubled in a decade, while sale prices have not. At the same time, further regulation has been heaped on the sector. While individually well-intentioned and defensible, the cumulative impact of these regulations and costs has been to take the profit out of building. The pot isn’t infinite and builders are businesses – take away their profit, and they simply won’t build.
London – and Marylebone – is a great place already, but we can’t be complacent in our approaches. Across London, we should continue to adopt long term commitments and continuity to encourage investors, development and new businesses to join and thrive in the area. One clear, recent example I’ve pointed to a couple of times is the Elizabeth Line. We wouldn’t have that if it wasn’t for long-term decisions and commitment from developers, local and central government; that line was born out of decisions made more than 30 years ago, and it’s changed commuting and residing patterns and brought hundreds of thousands of people closer to being able to commute into central London for work.
The Government’s commitment to “devolution, not delegation” is particularly timely and would give mayors and local authorities greater control over housing, transport, energy, innovation and skills. The aim is the joined-up approach the industry has been asking for. It only works if the built environment is treated as an economic lever.
One of the UK’s greatest strengths is the diversity of its places. The future isn’t about replicating London or Manchester everywhere. It’s about enabling every place to build on its own assets. Over the last decade, Greater Manchester has become the UK’s fastest-growing city region by building on its own strengths — from world-class universities and innovation to industrial capabilities, cultural assets and internationally recognised sporting heritage. If we get this right, we’ll create a network of growth engines that collectively make the UK a more attractive destination for international investment, talent and innovation while ensuring growth delivers benefits for communities across the country.
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A case for a more united built environment industry Three months ago, Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, promising to put the built environment at the heart of Government. As the Budget approaches, we have the rare opportunity to prove it deserves that billing, but only by presenting ourselves as one connected system.
T WRITTEN BY Nick McKeogh Chief Executive, NLA
hat is the thinking behind this year’s London Real Estate Forum theme: connectivity. It’s about how the built environment connects to the wider economy, including transport, energy, digital infrastructure, skills and public services. It’s also at the centre of NLA’s One Built Environment campaign. Research by NLA, Greater London Authority Economics and the London School of Economics found that the built environment generates 25% of UK GVA, £568 billion, 2.7 times the contribution of finance and insurance. It supports one in eight jobs and contributes £168 billion in exports. Yet, it’s rarely treated as a strategic industry. Benefits of greater connectivity A Built Environment Industrial and Investment Strategy could change that by connecting property with the systems that make development possible: transport, energy, water, digital infrastructure, construction, planning, design, finance, skills and public services. For real estate, this is about gaining influence by showing how investment enables outcomes across the wider economy.
The Government’s commitment to “devolution, not delegation” is particularly timely, and would give mayors and local authorities greater control over housing, transport, energy, innovation and skills. The aim is the joined-up approach the industry has been asking for. It only works if the built environment is treated as an economic lever. Devolution may help alleviate housing, transport and infrastructure pressure Devolution will only deliver if local leaders have partners who understand how a transport link unlocks a housing site, how an energy connection determines viability and how skills investment determines whether it gets built. An industry organised around connectivity is in a stronger position than sectors making separate cases. London is the place to prove this. Its pressures on housing, transport and infrastructure are acute, while its mayoral and borough structures provide a framework for joined-up delivery. If the capital can demonstrate what a connected approach delivers, it can provide a template for devolution elsewhere.
Why Marylebone is a microcosm of London’s global success A long-term vision can ensure London remains a leading global city, with dynamic neighbourhoods that balance economic growth with real community value. WRITTEN BY Tony Greenway
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hen Julian Best walks out of his office, his work is all around him. Best is Executive Property Director of The Howard de Walden Estate, which owns, manages and leases approximately 95 acres of Marylebone in central London, a highly desirable district running from Marylebone Road in the north to Wigmore Street in the south. Its portfolio of around 850 properties (roughly a third of which are listed) includes the Harley Street Health District and Marylebone Village, a vibrant residential area featuring a range of boutiques and restaurants. Best says the secret of the Estate’s success is its lack of complacency and insightful decision-making. Also, it doesn’t just plan for now. It keeps an eye on the horizon. “We make long-term decisions to encourage development and investment that ultimately benefit future generations,” he says.
Keeping London competitive and attractive On a bigger scale, Best believes a far-sighted approach will help London remain a leading global city. “For example, the Elizabeth Line was born out of decisions made more than 30 years ago and has changed commuting patterns,” he says. “We need that sort of long-term, consistent vision to make sure London is competitive and attractive well into the future. While it’s a great place already with fantastic education, innovation, research and infrastructure, it still needs to invest more in digital technology and ensure that its buildings, services and utilities are fit for purpose and resilient.” High-quality placemaking to attract businesses, residents, visitors and investment must be made easier, too. “Developers have all sorts of challenges to deal with, including financial feasibility, development risk and planning,”
says Best. “With the new leadership at Westminster, I think there’s now a genuine recognition that the planning system needs to be unjammed. We need less regulation and bolder decisions from central government and councils — and long-term vision, too.” Best also suggests leaving development to the developers: “They know what works. They know what occupiers want.” Creating and maintaining a sense of community When London neighbourhoods attract investment, talent and innovation, they become real communities — which attracts further investment, talent and innovation. It becomes a virtuous circle. “What makes Marylebone special is that people actually live here,” says Best. “We have schools and fantastic facilities, and it’s all within walking distance. Part of our long-term commitment is to ensure that it’s a place where people continue to want to spend time.”
Julian Best Executive Property Director, The Howard de Walden Estate
Paid for by The Howard de Walden Estate
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