The Conservative Party has pledged to invest in apprenticeships, infrastructure and housing if it remains in power next month.
In an 80-page manifesto published this afternoon (11 June), the Tories unveiled policies including investment in rail, road and energy infrastructure as well as boosting housebuilding on brownfield land (see more on these below).
The ruling party said it would create “100,000 more apprenticeships in England every year by the end of the next Parliament”, as well as reforming education for 16-19 year olds to “end the damaging divide between academic and technical education”.
It also vowed to “promote digital invoicing and improve enforcement of the Prompt Payment Code” – under which major government suppliers including several tier one contractors ought to pay 95 per cent of invoices from small businesses within 30 days.
The party, led by prime minister Rishi Sunak (pictured), also said it would improve finance for SMEs and increase the employee threshold under which companies have to publish detailed financial accounts.
However, the manifesto makes no direct reference to the construction industry and contains no pledges relating to an overhaul of the UK planning system, beyond changes to the infrastructure approval process. The manifesto has received a mixed-response from industry (see comments below).
Infrastructure
The Tories promised to “speed up the average time it takes to sign off major infrastructure projects from four years to one” by reforming “outdated EU red tape”, including environmental impact assessments.
The Tories also said they would “end frivolous legal challenges” against infrastructure schemes, prevent statutory consultees from demanding “piecemeal requirements” and reduce the cost of infrastructure “by allowing quicker changes to consented projects”.
In terms of infrastructure investment, the Tories vowed to invest £8.3bn in road resurfacing and pothole repair, with £1.75bn being put aside for West Midlands rail, further investment in upgrades to railways in the South West, and electrification of the North Wales mainline.
On energy, the party said it would treble offshore wind capacity while supporting new onshore wind projects while “ensur[ing] democratic consent”. The party also said it would approve two new fleets of small modular reactors within 100 days of the new Parliament, and deliver a “gigawatt power plant” at the Wylfa Newydd site in Anglesey.
The Tories also said they would continue “to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030” and build four new prisons – but added they would prevent new waste incinerators from being built, including those that have recently received permits.
Housing
The Conservative Party said it would oversee construction of 1.6 million homes in England during the next Parliament – equivalent to 320,000 per year over a five-year period – including “delivering a record number of homes each year on brownfield land in urban areas”.
They said they would achieve the latter by “providing a fast-track route through the planning system for new homes on previously developed land in the 20 largest cities” as well as by creating “locally-led urban development corporations in partnership with the private sector”.
The party said it would look to raise “density levels” in inner London so they are comparable with Paris and Barcelona. It would do this by “forcing” mayor Sadiq Khan to plan for more homes on brownfield sites.
However, the party made a “cast-iron commitment to protect the greenbelt from uncontrolled development”.
The Tories reiterated their commitment to abolishing net-neutrality rules, which continue to be a major impediment to housebuilding in certain areas. They also said they would renew the current Affordable Homes Programme.
They also said that small housebuilders would be supported by requiring councils to set aside land for them and “lifting Section 106 burdens on more smaller sites”.
Industry response
National Federation of Builders chief executive Richard Beresford said: “A healthy construction industry is the only way a nation can grow and, unfortunately, construction has taken some great hits in these past five years. The Conservative manifesto announced tax cuts that will benefit our sector, particularly as almost 50 per cent are self-employed. However, without pipelines of work, construction will not be able to avail from tax changes.
“It is therefore frustrating that the Conservative manifesto intends to plough ahead with the recent changes to planning and housing policy which have caused new-build completion to drop considerably. We therefore have to question how 1.6 million homes can be delivered, when previous more-housing-positive policy environments only delivered 835,680 homes over the previous five years.”
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors chief executive Justin Young said: “Having delivered only 2.5 million homes over the past 14 years, the Conservative party has made an ambitious pledge to build 1.6 million homes over the next five years.
“That is over 300,000 new homes a year – which hasn’t been achieved since the sixties, a period during which the public sector and SME housebuilders had a far greater role in housing delivery. While it’s encouraging to see the Conservatives committing themselves to supporting small builders, this will not address the quagmire of laws that make up Britain’s restrictive and politically permeated planning system.
“We welcome any initiative that helps first-time buyers, but demand-side solutions must be combined with workable supply-side solutions. To begin improving affordability levels the UK must build more housing… It’s vital that we learn lessons from the past and introduce policies that address the plethora of structural issues that exist within housebuilding.”
Carter Jonas head of planning and development Colin Brown said: “The pledge to speed up the average time it takes to sign off major infrastructure projects, from four years to one, is welcome and, if achieved, would allow larger projects to proceed far more rapidly.
“Abolishing the legacy EU ‘nutrient neutrality’ rules will be welcomed by the housebuilding industry. While there has already been movement in this area, the ability to unlock the delivery of new homes via a one-off mitigation fee is a positive policy.
“As expected, there is no movement on the greenbelt from the government, which is extremely disappointing […as] there is a pressing need to deliver some new housing in the greenbelt. Despite its intentions, this feels like an overall vote loser for the Conservatives, and clear evidence of pandering to their core vote.”