Leadership council lobbies chancellor for more support

The four-page letter to chancellor Rishi Sunak makes the case in some detail for special measures across six themes.

On behalf of the CLC, Andy Mitchell writes: “As you prepare for the autumn comprehensive spending review, we have considered how our sector can most effectively support the UK’s recovery. We recognise that difficult decisions will have to be made, so have focused on a small number of strategic interventions that we believe will drive growth while rebalancing opportunities and securing net zero carbon. Our recommendations form a package that will ensure employment for thousands of workers nationwide while building a better economy.”

Requests made within the letter are:

• support for a housing refurbishment drive to improve energy efficiency (a ‘net zero carbon retrofit programme’ as the CLC puts it)
• more public money for post-Grenfell cladding replacement(“Government support for remediating unsafe cladding in high-rise residential accommodation is essential to avoid the current toxic situation stifling property sales, due to zero valuations and lack of mortgage availability,” he writes.)
• creation of a regeneration investment bank or fund to provide cheap loans for urban regeneration schemes
• support for information technology. (Specifically, Mr Mitchell writes: “We ask that the UK government fund adoption of the Information Management Framework, which would enable secure, resilient data sharing across the built environment. In turn, this would enable the connection of digital twins and pave the way for the National Digital Twin driven by the Centre for Digital Built Britain.)
• £7.5m to grow construction skills hubs
• more state aid for housing developers after Help to Buy and the stamp duty holiday end in March “to avoid a cliff edge in delivery”.

The letter can be read in full by clicking here

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