The British Property Federation has called for the government’s modern industrial strategy, Invest 2035, to reflect the critical role that commercial and residential property has to play in facilitating economic growth.
In its response to a consultation on the strategy, the BPF said growth can only be delivered through an integrated approach stimulating investment into the UK property sector and linking planning reform and other major growth strategies, including housing and infrastructure.
Consultation on the strategy closed last night.
The BPF said it would offer the full support of the UK property sector for the government’s objective of “fixing the foundations” of the UK economy.
The right buildings in the right locations with the right supporting infrastructure, including homes, are the foundation of economic activity, it said, and growth cannot be delivered unless the industrial strategy reflects this.
The BPF has also reiterated the significant contribution that property makes to the UK economy, delivering £110bn in GVA to the UK economy each year (more than 5% of the UK total) and supporting 2.5m jobs.
Chief executive Melanie Leech said: “The property sector underpins every part of our lives and businesses cannot grow and drive a strong economy unless they have fit-for-purpose modern facilities and the workers they rely on can find homes for their families.
“There are billions of pounds potentially available to invest in UK property of all types – from state-of-the-art research facilities to high-value manufacturing to new homes, and we call on the government to work with us to unlock this investment to deliver Invest 2035 and thriving communities across the country.”
The BPF’s consultation response also notes how, despite the UK’s world-leading strengths in RDI within life sciences, the country is currently failing to fully to capitalise on this strong position because of a lack of new laboratories, scale-up facilities and infrastructure.
Alongside this, the BPF has highlighted the need for logistics to also be considered as a prominent “foundational” sector, providing critical industrial warehouse space necessary for advanced manufacturing, creative industries and the data centres that increasingly underpin the financial, professional and business sectors.
The UK PropTech Association, now part of the BPF, has outlined where proptech could make a significant contribution to increasing productivity, highlighting the role of smart building technology, sustainability and climate tech, and construction tech as key solutions to current issues facing the UK.
Sammy Pahal, managing director of the UK PropTech Association, said: “The property sector has a critical role in helping the government to deliver its growth sector ambitions and within that proptech has a significant part to play in driving innovation and enhancing productivity. It is therefore vital that the government considers these opportunities afforded by proptech as it develops this industrial strategy and works to remove the barriers currently facing further investment into proptech within the UK.”
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