Liz Truss has won the conservative election race against Rishi Sunak to become the next UK prime minister. Here we look at how the construction industry has reacted to the announcement and its likely impact on the housing sector
Liz Truss is set to succeed Boris Johnson as the next UK prime minister following a 57.4% win against Rishi Sunak.
Boris Johnson will officially step down as prime minister on Tuesday.
The UK’s third female leader: Who is Liz Truss?
Elizabeth Truss was elected as the Conservative MP for south west Norfolk in 2010. She was also appointed Minister for Women and Equalities in September 2019.
More recently she was appointed Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on 15 September 2021.
Prior to this, Truss was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Education and Childcare in September 2012. She served as the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from July 2014 until July 2016.
Liz Truss was also Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice from July 2016 until June 2017 and she was Chief Secretary to the Treasury from June 2017 until July 2019.
Before her political career, Truss was previously Deputy Director at Reform and worked in the energy and telecommunications industry for 10 years. She is also a qualified management accountant.
Liz Truss promises to ‘deliver on the energy crisis’
In a short speech after the result, Truss said: “I will deliver on the energy crisis dealing with people’s energy bills, but also dealing with the long term issues we have on energy supply.”
Leaders in the construction industry have since voiced their opinions following the announcement:
BRE urges new prime minister Liz Truss to decarbonise existing homes
Gillian Charlesworth, CEO, Building Research Establishment (BRE), comments on the leadership election result:
“The new UK government must ramp up its action on climate change – and central to this should be driving a green transition in the built environment. We were pleased to see the newly appointed prime minister, Liz Truss, pledging to help people insulate their homes as the UK heads towards net zero. However, we will need to go much further if we are to fully decarbonise the UK’s building stock, which currently makes up a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“What’s more, improving the energy efficiency of our homes and buildings is one of the only viable ways to lower energy bills, which are now at record highs and set to rise even further in October.
“With macroeconomic pressures worsening, rolling out measures to improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock will be paramount in relieving households of the financial pressures they are currently facing.
“This is why we are urging our new prime minister to publish a credible and effective plan to decarbonise our existing homes and buildings. At its core, this would set out a fully funded national retrofit strategy defining energy efficiency measures, such as insulation, for all UK households. This would help to address fuel poverty for thousands of households head-on, significantly lower energy bills, and ensure our buildings are fit for the future.
“It is crucial that any plans to scrap green levies do not impact energy efficiency schemes, which are critical in delivering improvements to our housing stock.
“These are priorities we cannot afford to ignore as the UK seeks to establish itself as a world leader in climate policy.”
CIOB calls on prime minister Liz Truss to continue the government’s levelling up and net zero agendss
Caroline Gumble, CEO at CIOB, said: “We want to see the new prime minister continue the government’s existing agendas on levelling up and net zero, both of which can make a positive difference to what we’re sure will be their number one priority, the cost of living crisis.
“The levelling up agenda provides significant opportunities for the construction sector, through local job creation and stability, while property retrofit schemes to improve energy efficiency for example, will further boost the sector and go some way to helping residents mitigate rising energy costs.
“In tandem, we would like to see the prime minister appoint a cabinet that will work meaningfully with the construction industry and professional bodies to understand and alleviate pressures on the built environment sector.
“The appointment of a housing minister and construction minister for the long term will go a long way in helping improve the consistency and collaboration that the industry desperately needs and strengthen the excellent collaboration that has been achieved through the Construction Leadership Council.”
ACE says “investment in our national infrastructure, and the construction industry more widely, is crucial”
Stephen Marcos Jones, CEO of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), commented: “I’d like to welcome the new prime minister into her role and congratulate her on a successful campaign.
“The process has – unfortunately – delayed much needed action from government. We know that inflation, rising energy prices and wages are already severely impacting the short to medium term outlook for our sector, and we look forward to seeing how businesses will be supported in these areas through the challenging months ahead.
“Investment in our national infrastructure, and the construction industry more widely, is crucial to weathering any potential economic storm. It will ensure we maintain a long-term view on the economy and invest in a sector which can provide jobs and growth. For this reason I was pleased to see the prime minister back investment in Northern Powerhouse Rail and for roads in her campaign.
“Our members play a vital role in delivering the long-term solutions that society requires on energy, transport, connectivity, Net Zero and regional development. It is for this reason we look forward to our constructive relationship with government continuing under her leadership.”
CEA looks to new prime minister Liz Truss to “protect our sector from irreparable damage”
Suneeta Johal, CEA CEO on the appointment of the new prime minister, Liz Truss: “As we welcome Liz Truss as our new prime minister, we as an industry are looking for swift action to protect our sector from irreparable damage.
“Truss is presented with the opportunity to transform the construction sector, ensure our industry is fit for the future, and provide the necessary support to lead us on the path to net-zero emissions by 2050.
“Recent months have seen setback after set back which is crippling UK businesses. Soaring energy costs and the recent announcement that the price cap is not being extended to businesses was yet another blow.
“Companies are fearing their energy costs could go up by as much as 300%, which is simply not sustainable. We need immediate action from government to introduce a business energy price cap and reduce the VAT on business energy bills.
“On the issue of rising energy bills, Truss says she will “deliver” when it comes to crisis by not only dealing with bills but also the long-term supply issues – this must be extended to and include businesses.
“The rising energy costs have been compounded by the steep price increases in fuel, although this has stabilised at source, it’s not being passed on to the consumer. The construction industry is also bearing the brunt two-fold with the end of the red-diesel rebate.
“The government has committed to achieving net zero by 2050. It has also stated that its target is to decarbonise the power system by 2035. It has been estimated that around £40bn per year would be required (on average) to be invested in new low carbon and digital infrastructure over the next ten years.
“There is a significant gap between the government’s objectives and the practical policy that is needed to provide confidence and positive, clear signals to potential investors. Introducing a long-term capital allowance regime will drive investment in greener technologies, and clean technology, which will in turn reduce energy consumption.
“Supply chain challenges remain critical, and this has been further impacted by strike action at ports – many businesses will be looking at ‘reshoring’ which could futureproof them against future supply chain issues but ‘moving manufacturing closer to home’ will require the government to facilitate with further tax breaks making it more achievable to invest in local facilities, new technology, strategy replanning and of course, a company’s most important asset – people.
“There’s certainly a lot to be done and we as a sector have a considerable ‘ask’ wishlist – and will be actively talking to HMG to expedite the reforms we as an industry desperately need.”
“Resolving the issues in planning needs to be one of the top items on the next PM’s agenda”
Simon Cox, managing director of Walter Cooper: “When it comes to housing, resolving the issues in planning needs to be one of the top items on the next PM’s agenda, and that will mean making some unpopular decisions.
“Truss now needs to shift her focus from pandering to the NIMBY masses and publicly turn away from previous statements made by other Conservative MPs such as Michael Gove, regarding the so called ‘cartel’, or face alienating the housebuilding community entirely. However, with a general election likely on the horizon I’m doubtful these difficult choices will be put into action any time soon.
“Housing plays a major part in supporting the economy, and as we head into a predicted recession this will prove more important than ever. I’d therefore implore the new PM to work with those in the industry to provide support in promoting an ‘open for housebuilding’ agenda.
“Truss may have pledged her commitment to removing planning restrictions in an attempt to boost housebuilding, but in abandoning the government target of building 300,000 houses a year, will her so called ‘investment zones’ ever really come to fruition? I’m not sure, but the fact of the matter is, as prices continue to rise due to a lack of supply, something needs to be done to increase the number of houses built in this country before home ownership becomes further out of reach for all but a select few.”
L&Q’s CEO sets out the key housing and construction challenges facing the government
Fiona Fletcher Smith, said: “Nothing is more important than resident safety. L&Q has committed over £250 million to building safety works over the coming years and has launched one of the UK’s largest building safety inspection programmes. We were the first housing association to announce that we would not charge for works required to homes that we built, and are working urgently to remediate potentially unsafe homes, as well as bringing about changes to make new homes safe in the future.
“The Building Safety Act signifies an important milestone in overhauling building safety regulation and offers a robust framework to improve standards. Whilst its full effect is still to be understood, we need to stand firm on our plans to solve this crisis. The next chapter will be how we pivot from remediation to routine compliance– and a productive relationship with Government will be crucial to this.
“As an organisation, L&Q was one of the first to champion Shared Ownership, marketing our first homes through the scheme in the late 1980s. Today, we remain one of its biggest advocates.
“Shared Ownership is the most tried and tested way of helping lower-income households onto the housing ladder. Thanks to the alignment of political will, lender appetite and customer demand, it is firmly established as the UK’s fourth mainstream tenure.
“We hope the Government continues to recognise the important role it plays in bridging the gap between renting and open-market purchases.
“Given the rising costs of labour and materials, static grant rates will affect the development of not just shared ownership homes but homes of all tenures, including social rent.
“The only way to address this is by raising grant levels to give certainty on the future of the Affordable Homes programme.
“Developers like L&Q want to be at the forefront of decarbonisation by generating the scale needed to kick-start this economy.
“L&Q has started the industry’s largest investment programme – £2.7bn over 15 years – to upgrade the safety, quality, comfort, and environmental performance of our residents’ homes.
“With a deep commitment to the long-term sustainability of our stock, we are uniquely placed to lead the way in decarbonising Britain’s homes.
“We recognise that doing so is not only an essential part of tackling climate change, but it saves residents’ money, helps combat fuel poverty, improves energy security, and creates jobs. Given the interlinked energy, cost of living and climate crises, the benefits of this cannot be overstated.
“Housing associations and developers will not be able to meet this challenge alone. We need to invest in our homes, while working with the Government to put in place the policies and funding needed to reach net zero by 2050.”
More commitment to major infrastructure projects
Commenting on the announcement, Clive Docwra, managing director of property and construction consultants McBains, said:
“Liz Truss has pledged to cut red tape to allow homes to be built faster, but this has been promised by her predecessors and without any real success. Scrapping nutrient neutrality environmental regulations will only go so far to help.
“There’s not enough disused brownfield land for the amount of new homes required to meet demand so building on a small proportion of the greenbelt is needed, but no previous Conservative PM has demonstrated an appetite to do this.
“We want to hear more firm commitments on major infrastructure projects such as restoring the HS2 route to Leeds which is crucial for supporting levelling up, and a clearer outline of what her government’s commitment to net zero and ESG initiatives will be.
“We also need construction and housing ministerial teams that are in place for longer than just a few months. The churn has been particularly high in recent years and does nothing to help create certainty and continuity in terms of policy, meaning the industry is often second-guessing government intentions.”
