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03 July 2024 | By NBS
The snap election is the latest twist in a challenging period for the construction industry, marked by regulatory reform, runaway inflation, and a bleak economic outlook.
With the UK off to the polls on 4 July, question marks over key issues remain a sticking point for the built environment. NBS and Glenigan (part of Byggfakta Group) surveyed construction professionals to identify the major issues missing from the election coverage.
It found that, overwhelmingly, the construction industry has been left dissatisfied by lacklustre manifestos. Many of the issues plaguing the sector have been left out of the conversation altogether by political parties. Only 3% of respondents believed that the election coverage had addressed all the key issues impacting the sector, pointing to widespread frustrations.
Commenting on the findings, Russell Haworth, CEO UKI of Byggfakta Group, said: “The construction sector has struggled through the past few years, challenged by high interest rates, a housing market slowdown, and weak UK economic growth. This has been exacerbated by a lack of long-term policy vision, not helped by the fact that 25 construction ministers have served in post since the turn of the century.
"I hope the next administration, whichever party it is, appoints MPs to these posts and keeps them there to ensure they understand the challenges facing the sector and maintain consistency to deliver crucial reforms, from digital transformation to addressing chronic labour shortages.
“We urgently need to elevate these offices from junior positions to ones that attend the Cabinet, ensuring construction has a voice where it matters. For an industry that employs around 1 in 10 of the UK workforce and is such a major economic driver, construction is too often seen as an afterthought[NT1] [NM2] by political parties.”
The survey, which included responses from 505 industry professionals across various company sizes and turnover brackets, posed the question: What’s missing from the election coverage?