Gillian Charlesworth, CEO of BRE, comments:
“We welcome the White Paper’s intention to improve people’s wellbeing and standards of living by enhancing the quality of the UK’s housing stock. We are pleased to see recognition of the links between the economy, health, and the built environment but we really need to see more detail on the measures required to deliver these outcomes.
Local authorities will need clear support and direction if they are to deliver high quality housing within the community – but how in practice this can be achieved was missed by today’s paper. Many local authorities have already struggled as successive budget cuts have limited their capacity to focus on delivering the levelling up agenda. We hope to see further detail on the Government’s plans to support them with the skilled people, financial resources and data that they need.
Another key area of opportunity missing from today’s White Paper is a clear and long-term plan for decarbonising our buildings and training the hundreds of thousands of retrofit workers needed to deliver net zero. Measures that support a clear and effective plan to improve the quality and sustainability of the UK’s housing stock should be at the forefront of the Government’s Levelling Up agenda – but today’s paper signals a missed opportunity to outline this.”