Business

Supporting the 'levelling up' agenda can boost our economy

'Attracting people to live, work and invest in disadvantaged areas of the country, and giving them compelling reasons to stay living, working or investing in those areas, will ultimately be fundamental to the success of levelling up.'
'Attracting people to live, work and invest in disadvantaged areas of the country, and giving them compelling reasons to stay living, working or investing in those areas, will ultimately be fundamental to the success of levelling up.' 'Attracting people to live, work and invest in disadvantaged areas of the country, and giving them compelling reasons to stay living, working or investing in those areas, will ultimately be fundamental to the success of levelling up.'

NOW in its second round, the levelling up fund provides £4.8 billion for local infrastructure projects across the UK, with £1.7 billion already allocated to 105 successful projects from round one.

The built environment can play a crucial role in helping to foster a sense of pride, identity and emotional attachment to places while also supporting the long-term economic prosperity and resilience of local and regional communities. By investing in our infrastructure, we invest in our communities and build a sustainable future.

Levelling up requires a strategic approach to sustainable placemaking that will serve the long-term economic, social and environmental interests of people across Northern Ireland, and the UK as a whole, as we adapt to digital changes and new ways of working, and as we respond to the threat of climate change.

Attracting people to live, work and invest in disadvantaged areas of the country, and giving them compelling reasons to stay living, working or investing in those areas, will ultimately be fundamental to the success of levelling up.

In its support with the levelling up agenda, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has set out a number of policy recommendations for the government to consider.

In setting out these recommendations, RICS wishes to work with on a joint plan for engagement across the sector under RICS’s public advantage remit to support a strategic approach to sustainable placemaking in pursuit of levelling up.

Employment-led regeneration should be the initial driver of levelling up within a UK settlement strategy.

While significant strides are being taken to reduce the environmental impact of the residential sector through the delivery of greener housing, the co-location of new housing developments with job opportunities will be significant in the context of both economic regeneration and national carbon reduction efforts.

The Government should take immediate steps to upskill and expand the construction workforce. Construction output is currently being hampered by steep price rises, and shortages of materials and labour.

Given the long-term trajectory of the levelling up agenda and its focus on the future, the Government should take active steps to encourage more people into the construction sector, through the education system, by tapping into the domestic talent pool and by seeking to attract more workers from overseas.

Upskilling and expanding the construction workforce could also enable swifter renovations of commercial assets, further boosting the potential of the commercial real estate sector in helping to drive regional regeneration across the UK.

The levelling up agenda should be aligned with the UN’s sustainable development goals. As the Government seeks to spread opportunity throughout different regions of the UK, the sustainable development goals provide a superordinate policy framework for realising this ambition in a way that fundamentally promotes the public interest.

However, first and foremost in Northern Ireland we need a running, functioning Executive to come together to help support the needs of the industry and help alleviate some of the pressures so that we can all work towards contributing to communities across the country.

:: Sharon McClements is chair of RICS Northern Ireland, which promotes and enforces the highest professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.