All change for CRE as Labour recognises the importance of skin in the game?

EDITOR’S COMMENT It’s probably a bit too early to do a school report on the new administration, but one week in and the real estate and business community seems to be feeling pretty positive about the country’s new boss. In his first few days in power, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has taken the opportunity to not completely change everything – despite that one word being Labour’s core manifesto message. The fact the shadow cabinet is now the actual cabinet has been welcomed. Property has been crying out for stability. The sector, when it saw the writing was on the wall for the Conservatives, made a concerted effort to engage with the shadow ministers who connect with our industry, helping educate them to the needs and wants of property, reaching out a hand to those individuals to show how property could actually be a critical friend to this new administration, helping it bring about the change we do want to see. Whether Angela Rayner is your cup of tea or not, here’s a woman who isn’t afraid of a fight, who knows what it feels like to be without, who understands struggle and the importance of place. And, from our inside sources, she is genuinely passionate about the brief she has in the now-renamed Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government. She was ready and willing to fight to keep that brief if Starmer had other plans for her, we’re told. And I know who I’d back in that battle. And Matthew Pennycook. We have in him a housing minister who has already been in the job for three years. That feels like something of a record. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll stay in that position for a few more years and actually deliver some of the promises made around housing. And those promises – outlined by new chancellor Rachel Reeves – have also got support from our industry. More planning officers are needed – 300 probably isn’t enough – and how Reeves and co expect to attract people into the public sector when it gets such a beating for being under-resourced, I don’t know. But maybe this is one area where the private sector can lend a hand and second some of its talent to get our planning system back up and working in the way we need it to deliver growth. Planning reform is most definitely needed but let’s not spend months and months and reams and reams of paper reforming. Let’s get our hands dirty and start with action. Again, somewhere this industry can lend a hand. What are the vital bits of the planning system we need to fix? Start with them, maybe help fund that if you can, and the rest will follow. Perhaps one of the most encouraging changes, however, is the push of greater power to local leaders. “My fundamental belief is that those with skin in the game are the ones who know best what they need,” said Starmer as he gathered the country’s metro mayors at 10 Downing Street, telling them he was “determined” to make sure they get the support they need to deliver economic growth in every part of the country. The levelling up title may have gone, but the focus hasn’t. And that metro mayors group is undoubtedly going to grow in membership. Skin in the game is a phrase we hear so often in real estate, and Starmer has hit the nail on the head. And that is why I feel confident this new administration is going to finally hear the voice of the property industry. The built environment has so much skin in the game when it comes to making the UK great again. Our industry puts blood, sweat, tears and huge amounts of capital into making and maintaining place. If Starmer’s fundamental belief really is that those with skin in the game know best what they need, then our industry needs to make sure we get our message across loud and clear. We need to make it clear we are the changemakers for this country, the economic drivers, the sustainability champions and the deliverers of place. And we too are determined to bring growth back to every corner of the country, and we too need the support. Now is our time.