Our top built environment updates for the week:

📝 – The FT reports on Labour’s plans to hire 300 planners to “get Britain building again”, but the figure is less than a tenth of the public sector planners who left over the past decade. The news follows The RTPI being selected as the delivery partner for the Planning Skills Fund, a five-year programme to increase planning skills and capacity across local authorities.

📈 – The Centre for Cities’ handy tool gives a pre-election breakdown of socio-economic indicators for all constituencies across England and Wales, compared against the city/national average.

🏠 – Housing wasn’t that central in last night’s leaders’ debate, however, Sunak and Starmer were asked whether the majority of 18 to 35-year-olds living with their parents should change their expectations of home ownership. Click here to hear the responses.

🗳️ – Away from the General Election, Planning Resource has explored the local election outcome and how Thurrock, Rugby, Bristol, Basildon, Cherwell, Castle Point, Runnymede and Dorset’s council changes will impact planning and development.

Local lowdown

Midlands – With Andy Street moving away from politics after his West Midlands Mayoral defeat, the region’s residents are having to balance not knowing who they might be able to vote for yet, whilst coming to terms with several boundary changes. The four boroughs of the Black Country – together with Staffordshire – bear the loss of the region’s two seats, whilst Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Coventry all see boundary changes that could impact results. Mr Street might not be campaigning on his brownfield-first approach to development, but we suspect we haven’t seen the last of him.

East of England – Nigel Farage announced he will stand for Reform in the Essex seaside town of Clacton. He’s got a shot, but had a (milk)shaky start! The hot topic over the past few days has been the selection process for candidates, especially for the Conservatives. Several current and former MPs are finding themselves in what could be described as Conservative-safe seats. We know there are a small number of associations that are not happy with how CCHQ has handled the process. Watch this space for the fallout.

West of England – Labour would devolve more powers to and expand the influence of combined authorities with metro mayors, who would join the cabinet on rotation. Right now, this feels less exciting for the West of England, with its combined authority yet to find its mojo. The North East Somerset and Hanham vote could be the solution. Here, a battle between Jacob Rees-Mogg and Labour’s West of England mayor Dan Norris could leave the region in need of a new mayor. Norris would initially retain his mayorship, but likely step aside at mayoral elections next year – a potential new lease of life which will have regional implications for many years to come. Norris was MP for Wansdyke from 1997 until 2010 when it became North East Somerset and he was beaten by Rees-Mogg. A seat that beautifully articulates there’s so much more behind these contests than vote share alone.

London – In an Evening Standard interview, Starmer said his Government would not continue an anti-London narrative if he was elected as Prime Minister. This is a marked change from the last four years when levelling up was deemed as moving funding from the capital. At the heart of Keir’s pitch was his plan to work closely with Sadiq Khan to build more homes at speed. Opinion polls suggest the Conservatives could be left with two MPs in London, so any “bashing” of the city may have backfired.

South East – Conservative candidates are fighting a war on multiple fronts, with the Lib Dems pushing in Surrey where polls show very safe seats such as Jeremy Hunt’s in South West Surrey could even be at risk. In coastal areas – Worthing, Hastings, Thanet and Rochester – Labour are buoyant about making gains which would have seemed implausible even five years ago. And then there’s the danger of Reform where, even in the truest of blue areas such as Essex, Farage’s announcement to return as leader and to stand in Clacton will be a real blow to the Conservative party’s morale. However, perhaps more worryingly, consequences are far more impactful for the long-term future of the UK’s oldest political party. 

North – In North Yorkshire, Whitby is fast becoming the embodiment of the disaffected, where 15% say they’re still undecided as to which way they’ll vote. The majority of these are women aged 61, who own their own home and are more likely to have voted for Brexit. Traditional Conservative voters, these individuals are disillusioned after years of rising house prices and increasing holiday lets leaving young adults no choice but to live elsewhere. Labour support in Scarborough and Whitby is steadfast. Their candidate, Alison Hume, is a local, which voters have said is increasingly important. Many residents in this North Yorkshire constituency said they felt it was “time for a change”, with everything pointing to this seat potentially turning red in July.

Drop us a note if you need help navigating during these uncertain times – hello@meeting-place.uk