Deputy Prime Minister speech to UKREiif - 20 May 2025
Source: gov.uk (2025-05-20)

Transcript of the Deputy Prime Minister's speech at the UK Real Estate and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) on 20 May 2025.

Good morning!

It’s fantastic to be back at UKREiiF, as Deputy Prime Minister.

And it’s excellent to be here in Leeds.

A great city under a great council and West Yorkshire’s Mayor, my friend Tracy Brabin.

From Holbeck to Hunslet to Horsforth, it’s being remade and reborn.

Creating new good-quality jobs as well as opportunities for growth and investment.

And it’s a testament to partnership between local, regional, and national government.

And I want to say a big thanks to all of you here today. And it was great to hear Tom and the enthusiasm when I was backstage then and also throwing down the gauntlet to us to say we will match your ambition if you’ve got it, Tom we have that ambition.

From our local leaders to housebuilders to investors.

For the part you’re playing in all of this.

And I’m here, today, to tell you that there’s more to come…

… As we get Britain building again as part of our Plan for Change.

I said last year that we would deliver this change.

New homes, new infrastructure projects, jobs, higher living standards, strong communities and a strong economy.

And I said that we would deliver this by working in partnership.

By backing you to build, invest and succeed.

So that our country and that is what we can do together to succeed.

Last year, I told you about a new development that I had just visited in my own constituency.

That delivered 62 much-needed new social and affordable homes.

For families in my community who needed them.

I told you what that development meant to me.

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Because our vision is not just building houses, but it’s building homes for people of our country.

And building the communities in which they live.

We have a target to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament.

As most of you in this room know I’m a straight talker, so I’ll say it straight.

I know that target is stretching.

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But I won’t shy away from the challenge.

It’s desperately needed after years of failure.

But I also want to be clear that our vision for housing is about so much more than hitting one target.

We must continue building well beyond this Parliament.

These must be well-designed, decent homes for local people.

And they must come alongside the GP surgeries, schools and parks they need too.

So, how will we know we’re succeeding?

Firstly, if we get more and more homes – in every part of the country, including here in West Yorkshire - built long into the future too.

We can’t just ramp-up housebuilding over the next few years.

Secondly, if more people have a home they can afford.

And we bring crippling costs down.

Thirdly, if we’re ensuring all homes are safe, secure and warm.

And we’re driving down bills for working people.

And finally, if we’re tackling the shameless homelessness crisis that is destroying the life chances of so many.

Now this will demand huge ambition.

And I am ready to meet it.

Already, we are creating the right conditions for building.

Ensuring smarter regulation for planning.

And pro-growth and pro-building policy.

We’re also working in partnership with you -

Investors, industry…

… The builders of our great nation.

And I want to see new players, entrepreneurs and disruptors flourish.

Small and medium enterprises, community-led housing projects and Councils who can disrupt the market for the better.

Radically changing what we build, and who builds it.

And transforming the system.

To make it more diverse and innovative.

Capable of not just delivering more homes, more quickly.

But delivering secure, affordable and decent homes – for everyone, everywhere…

And homes that will stand the test of time.

I say that I don’t shy away from the scale of the crisis facing us.

Because it is monumentous.

There’s barely a family in this country hasn’t been affected by it.

The dream of home ownership has been snatched away from a generation.

Just over 1.3 million people languish on waiting lists for social housing.

It is a scandal we have over 160,000 children in temporary accommodation.

Their lives have been held back.

Our country is being held back.

I know, from my own experience, how much having a secure, affordable home matters.

Alongside decent work and a strong community.

These were the foundations on which our parents and grandparents built good lives.

But which are now just not there for too many working people.

This is not just taking a personal toll, but it’s taking an economic one too.

Because growth and development go hand in hand.

Unlocking decent jobs, vital infrastructure and supporting our local economies.

Which in turn delivers the growth that is so needed to improve living standards and revitalise our public services.

Yet, I’ve heard from so many people since coming into office, how the system just stopped working.

Desperate families failed.

Local leaders feeling powerless to act.

Developers navigating a complex system.

This is not a series of crises.

But the symptoms of a broken system.

And so, nothing less than action everywhere will do.

It’s a momentous challenge – but we will meet this moment.

And in our first ten months of Government that is what I set out to do.

We said getting shovels in the ground was crucial.

And so, I wasted no time in turning the pages on years of decline.

With unwavering action to reverse the tide and get Britain building again.

We reintroduced local housing targets.

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We set out and consulted on a new pro-growth, pro-supply National Planning Policy Framework within our first three weeks in Office.

Unlocking brownfield and grey belt land for development.

And before the summer was out, we started getting stalled sites moving again through our New Homes Accelerator.

We’re pressing ahead with the hugely ambitious Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

To speed up the delivery of new homes and critical infrastructure.

With innovative reforms like our Nature Restoration Fund to unblock building.

While creating a win-win for nature and development.

As well as plans to modernise planning committees and bring in a new system of strategic planning.

Changes which could add up to £7.5 billion to the UK economy over the next decade.

The New Towns Task force is also hard at work on its recommendations for sites.

We’ve committed £3bn of support to small to medium enterprises and the build to rent sector, to access cheaper lending.

And as part of our commitment to building 1.5 million homes this Parliament…

…We’ll deliver the biggest wave of affordable and social housing in a generation.

And we’ve already topped up investment by £800 million.

As well as a £2 billion top-up funding next year.

With more to come at the Spending Review.

And that’s not all.

Our landmark Renters’ Rights Bill was introduced within our first four months.

Banning no fault evictions and giving the millions renting more security.

In November, we also set out our blueprint to ending the feudal leasehold system.

And earlier this year we published our Commonhold White Paper.

Giving leaseholders more say and power over their homes and lives.

And we’re empowering mayors through our devolution revolution.

Because the homes we build must deliver for people in all corners of our country.

This is the biggest shift of power from Whitehall to our town halls in a generation.

That was why I was delighted to celebrate the launch of The Great North last night. Not just because I am a northerner.

The North’s mayors coming together to herald a new era of Northern cooperation.

Showing what’s possible when we work together.

And we’re already seeing green shoots of this coming through.

Today Homes England has announced it’s delivering thousands more homes across the country compared to last year.

But this is just the start.

Because I know that there is so much more that still needs to be done.

As I’ve said, our planning reforms are a game-changer.

But we know that there must also be a renewed focus on social housebuilding.

I’m committed to resetting the foundations of the sector.

And to give the sector stability and confidence to invest in the future.

It’s also why we have made planning changes to support affordable housing too.

And we’ve helped Councils to borrow sustainably from the Public Works Loan Board.

Extending the preferential rate for council housebuilding to the end of 2025-26.

And we’ll shortly be confirming future regulatory standards.

To ensure that homes are safe, decent and warm.

And that social housing tenants are treated with the respect that they deserve.

Whilst also giving the sector the certainty to invest for the future.

I’m committed to this Council housebuilding revolution.

And not just because social and affordable housing are a nice add-on.

But because it’s essential to ensuring homes are built - and more quickly.

Because we know developments with a mix of housing build out faster.

And that affordable homes are the vital ingredient to unlocking private housebuilding too.

Partnerships between housebuilders and the public sector – like Vistry’s partnerships model…

And the projects between Homes England, Muse and Pension Insurance Corporation that are delivering 100% affordable sites in Bradford and Wakefield.

And are adding greater diversity, ensuring we meet the needs of local communities.

And I want to see these continue.

And more partnerships like them too.

We also want to see smaller housebuilders playing a bigger role.

Both in terms of who builds our homes and the types of homes they build.

They already make a significant contribution on smaller brownfield sites.

Building out faster than is often possible on larger and more complex sites.

So, we’re backing them to reclaim their rightful place as the backbone of housebuilding.

But a diverse housing market also depends on a workforce that’s fit for the future.

And so, we’re working closely with the construction sector to improve skills.

And job opportunities across the country.

The Chancellor has already announced £600 million to recruit an extra 60,000 construction workers by 2029.

And I’m proud to be joining the inaugural meeting of the Construction Skills Mission Board with Mark Reynolds from Mace. This industry-led group will bring together the whole sector to invest in UK plc, and oversee industry plans to recruit 100,000 more workers per year by the end of the Parliament, securing the next generation of construction workers.

It’s also why we’re also plugging capacity back into local planning authorities.

Making funds available to hire 300 new planners.

And through reforms to our Planning and Infrastructure Bill, letting Councils set their own planning fees.

And ringfencing this money to reinvest in planning.

Today, we don’t have to look too far afield for inspiration.

Just round the corner from this hall, the Leeds College of Building – the UK’s only specialist construction college – is training the next generation of workers.

And when it comes to who will drive delivery, our Mayors will be key.

With the powers we’re handing them, they will be critical to powering regional growth.

They’ve already achieved so much.

South Yorkshire’s on course for 20,000 new homes over the next 20 years.

In West Yorkshire, Mayor Brabin has helped get shovels in the ground on the Dyecoats project where 1,600 new homes will be built.

In Greater Manchester, there’s a strategic place partnership with Homes England that’s supporting 10 councils with 13 projects.

And in the North-East, Mayor McGuinness is supporting the delivery of 100 new family homes - including council housing - as part of a regeneration project in East Durham.

And, just last week, Mayor Parker in the West Midlands, announced 300 affordable homes on the site of the former Yardley Sewage Works…

… Including 150 for social rent.

And going forward, we want to forge a stronger partnership between Mayors and Homes England.

Moving Homes England to a more regionalised model, over time.

This is Britain [Political content removed].

Open to building.

Open for business.

And delivering for working people.

So we give people the security and control they deserve.

Regardless of whether they rent or they own their home.

Or are in the private or social rented sector.

We have big changes in the pipeline.

Disrupting, diversifying and transforming the housing market.

So that it delivers for working people.

Big changes that mean big opportunities for investment and growth.

I urge everyone across the whole system to seize them with both hands.

To investors, I say: there are an exciting array of opportunities. Tom spoke about them.

To our housebuilders, we have listened and we’re reversing the tide to create the right conditions.

But now we need you to build, build, build.

To our mayors, I say don’t hold back.

Take control of planning to drive the growth across housing, transport and skills.

Our councils, too, must raise their game with up-to-date Local Plans.

And work together with housing associations to build a new generation of social housing.

Because the days of business as usual are over.

It’s time to fight for a brighter, more ambitious future for our country.

And what better inspiration than Clement Attlee’s 1945 Labour Government.

Out of the ruins of war, he built homes for heroes.

And as we mark its 80th anniversary, it’s time to recommit ourselves to delivering in the same spirit.

This is how we’ll unleash the growth and opportunities we all want to see.

It’s how we will rebuild the foundations of a good life for everyone.

And it’s how we will deliver for working people.

Thank you.