Let’s make this the ‘built environment election’

COMMENT July’s general election will be the biggest opportunity that the industry has to push for a greener, more equitable and infinitely more prosperous built environment – and our last chance this decade. That’s why we need to grasp the opportunity and tell politicians that our industry holds many of the solutions to the cost-of-living crisis and articulate how refurbishing our homes and public buildings will benefit people and communities. By the time the next one rolls around, we’ll be close to 2030: a key milestone in the fight against climate change; the year by which the UK aims to reduce carbon emissions by 68% compared with 1990 levels. Globally, we must halve carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050 if we are to avoid the worst catastrophes of the climate and wider ecological crises. The past few months have seen some of the wettest periods on record in the UK, with many government agencies warning our towns and cities are ill equipped for a warming climate. Existential moment So, the time to act is now. The first few months of the new government are pivotal, and the scrutiny on the first 100 days of our new national political power brokers will be intense. We are exiting out of two successive shocks – Covid and the war-fuelled cost-of-living crisis – which frames the election as a somewhat existential moment in time for the parties, and ultimately the new government. What are they about? Where does primacy sit across their policies and politics in terms of people, planet and profit? With the built environment directly responsible for 25% of carbon emissions in the UK, we therefore have not just a legal, but a moral responsibility to do our bit. The way that we can achieve that – and advance our collective economic and social interests at the same time – is through collaboration. Sharing both the risks and rewards, the benefits and the responsibilities. As an industry, working in conjunction with the next government, we need to adopt a joined-up approach that both tackles the climate crisis and rejuvenates our town and city centres. The UK Green Building Council – on behalf of more than 700 industry-leading members, ranging from banks and large estate owners to start-ups, universities and local authorities – is advocating for large commercial buildings to have an EPC B rating, or equivalent, by 2030. This should be accompanied by a mandated in-use performance-based rating system to ensure that energy efficiency installations and low-carbon heating measures are effective. We also need a modernised Landlord and Tenant Act that requires new business leases to include green clauses that will ensure owners and occupiers collaborate on environment and social upgrades. Incentives for smaller businesses, including through modernising stamp duty land tax to reflect the energy performance of commercial premises, would reward those with greater efficiency, which in turn will better value investments in insulation and low-carbon heating. Likewise, the next government should reform business rates to support smaller organisations with less capital to take up vacant units and improve the energy performance of rented buildings. Finally, the next government should reform planning rules to prioritise reuse of existing buildings and update the VAT framework, which currently, unfairly, favours new-build. This will encourage regeneration and avoid waste, while also ensuring high standards. Seizing the opportunity Ultimately, this joined-up approach is about regeneration – breathing new life into our buildings, our high streets, our economy and our planet – and not about maintaining a perilous, and fracturing, status quo. We have a major opportunity to advocate for a regenerative built environment: one that repairs and rebuilds anew, and not just one that minimises harm, and if we act then we can seize it. That’s why we are calling for this to be the “built environment election” and urging both government and the sector to galvanise around the challenge to improve our workplaces, protect the planet and preserve the money in our pockets, all in one fell swoop. Simon McWhirter is deputy chief executive of UK Green Building Council.