Predicted Impact of the Conservative Government on the Construction Industry

Last month’s general elections saw David Cameron and the Conservatives triumph in the polls with a hugely one-sided result, gaining a majority and moving away from the coalition government of recent years. This means that they will now have less obstruction when it comes to passing new legislation. But what does this mean for the construction industry? In a survey of more than 1,000 manufacturers, contractors, architects, developers, builders and suppliers, people were asked which government would be best for the industry if it were elected. The Conservatives, just as they did in the polls, came out on top, with 54% of the vote, and The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have set out some key initiatives that they would like to see from the Conservatives now they are in power.

Housing

The RICS stated that they would like to play a large part in assessing housing needs across the country. This means that they will work with the government to create a new Housing Observatory which will allow them to carry out these assessments, and let local councils and housing authorities to meet their area’s needs. An area that needs improvement is the planning aspect of housing projects – RICS feel that planning needs to be ‘more responsive’, and delays and cost to the public and private sector need to be reduced.

Skills

There are already measures and pledges in place to boost the amount of apprenticeships and graduates; a pressing issue is the way the construction industry is presented to these graduates and potential apprentices. The amount of apprentices in the construction industry is in direct correlation with the ability to improve the country’s housing infrastructure, so the industry needs to be presented in a more attractive way to budding apprentices and new graduates.

The belief held in the construction industry is that the Conservative government will bring consistency, which will increase confidence in markets and thus improve market stability. Adam Challis, Head of Residential Research at JLL said that “price growth should hold at 5-6%” – with housing prices a constant topic of debate up and down the country, a stable market would play a big part in improving the supply of new homes and helping to alleviate the housing crisis, not to mention adding jobs in the construction industry.

The housing market and the availability of housing for people in the UK is something that needs improvement, with people being priced out of homes on a seemingly ever-increasing basis. With the Conservative Party’s term just beginning, it remains to be seen if they can work with the construction industry in order to help improve this situation.

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