BPF Reaction to Queen's Speech 2019

In response to today’s Queen’s Speech, Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said:

“The Government has today set out its domestic agenda and we welcome its aspirations on the environment, infrastructure investment and greater regional devolution, plus that it is moving forward on building safety. Many of the other Bills that affect our sector, however, are predicated on Brexit and what form it takes. Until we get greater certainty on that, the sector will not have the conditions it needs to make investment decisions and that must be the priority for Government in the immediate weeks ahead.”

Building Safety Bill

“This Bill is clearly a priority. The public needs to have confidence in high-rise residential buildings, and in the framework that Government has been working on. The consultation during the summer was comprehensive and should provide a good platform for moving ahead with reform. As with other legislation, however, it is only as good as the resource that is put into making any new system workable.”

National Infrastructure Strategy

“Clarity on future infrastructure commitments is always helpful to investors, providing a signal as to where Government is investing. However, a strategy is only as good as the investment to support it and public investment is about action, not just words. The capital investment commitments of Government will therefore provide the clearer signal as to how ambitious the Government is.”

White paper on Regional Devolution

“Regional devolution has been a great policy success story, but thus far pursued on a reasonably piecemeal basis. We support a White Paper and hope it will cover both what else should be devolved, but also a clear framework about rights and responsibilities, so more places can benefit from devolution.”

Environmental Bill

“The property industry is up for the challenge of reducing its carbon footprint. What it seeks from Government is a clear articulation of its ambitions. The package of aspirations that Government has set out today should help. It is important that the focus is not just on new buildings, however, but the far bigger challenge of improving the existing stock will also need to be addressed.”