{"id":19365,"date":"2015-05-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-07T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/architizer.wpengine.com\/uk-election-2015\/"},"modified":"2022-05-31T11:09:40","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T15:09:40","slug":"uk-election-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/uk-election-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Election 2015: How Your Vote Could Affect the UK Construction Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s pretty exhausting being a British voter right now: This year\u2019s election campaign has been one of the most mind-boggling in recent memory \u2014 no fewer than seven<\/i> party leaders took part in April\u2019s televised debate, leaving more questions than answers about the benefits and drawbacks of each manifesto. Public opinion is split, the race for power at Westminster Palace<\/a> has never been tighter, and the likely outcome is yet another compromising coalition\u2026 not that any leader will admit to that, of course.<\/p>\n

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Where it all happens: Westminster Palace<\/a>, renovated by Feilden + Mawson LLP<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

This unprecedented lack of certainty means attempting to predict the outlook for the UK construction industry clearly amounts to a fool\u2019s errand of epic proportions, but have no fear: I\u2019m here to attempt that thankless task for you. First, let\u2019s look at the main parties\u2019 stance on housing<\/b>, a major talking point amongst voters considering the longstanding crisis<\/a> within this sector.<\/p>\n

The Conservatives have promised that they will facilitate the construction of 200,000 new houses solely for first-time buyers, thereby relieving pressure on the market and enabling more young families to buy rather than rent. Labour announced they would make sure that 200,000 houses are being built each year by 2020. But wait, there\u2019s more: the Liberal Democrats have now promised an incredible 300,000 houses a year by the end of the decade!<\/p>\n

These numbers may seem rather high given Britain\u2019s meager house-building history<\/a> in recent times, with the price tags yet to be determined \u2014 but hey, British politicians have never been known to let numbers get in the way of a good pre-election pledge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Hannibal Road Gardens<\/a> by Peter Barber Architects<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

What does this mean for UK architects and others in the AEC industries? Whichever party is victorious, it seems inevitable there will be a drive to build substantially more residential developments during the coming parliament \u2014 but the source of work could vary considerably depending on the result. If Labour have their way, the government will take back much of the power to build social housing, as in publicly funded residential projects such as Peter Barber Architects\/a>\u2019 <\/a>Hannibal Road Gardens<\/a> in London.<\/p>\n

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Mint Street Peabody Housing<\/a> by Pitman Tozer Architects<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, if David Cameron and the Conservatives retain their position in government, they will continue with existing initiatives such as the Affordable Rent Model, introduced in 2012. This has resulted in long-running partnerships between public and private bodies, delivering projects such as Mint Street Peabody Housing<\/a>, which incorporated a mixture of homes for rent, shared ownership, and private sale in the heart of London.<\/p>\n

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King’s Cross Station<\/a> by John McAslan + Partners<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

Either way, budgets will dictate the outlook for the five years \u2014 and the same can be said for public infrastructure<\/b> projects across the country. Prospects for the troubled High Speed 2 railway link<\/a> between London and Birmingham are likely to remain unchanged regardless of who triumphs in the election, with both the Conservatives and Labour maintaining their commitment to Britain\u2019s most expensive transport project despite severe financial woes. Only the outspoken UKIP<\/a> would scrap the HS2 altogether, and they are unlikely to hold sway after the votes are counted, so more major rail commissions in the vein of John McAslan<\/a>\u2019s stunning King\u2019s Cross Station<\/a> renovation could be on the horizon.<\/p>\n

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Heathrow Terminal 2<\/a> by Luis Vidal + Architects<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

While plans for the railways look set to remain on track, so to speak, the forecast for development of the country\u2019s airports remains very much up in the air. If the Conservatives win, they will likely forge ahead with plans to expand Heathrow Airport<\/a> or possibly even commission an entirely new transport hub for London. Labour, on the other hand, have opposed such a move, yet their position remains unclear on this key issue, and Ed Miliband will have some serious decisions to make should he receive the keys to Number 10<\/a> on May 8th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

In short, the construction industry should stand firm no matter whichever party \u2014 or combination of parties \u2014 takes over the reins of the United Kingdom this week. As always, its outlook depends largely on the state of the economy, and, as long as we don\u2019t see a repeat of the financial crisis of 2008, architects and contractors alike should have plenty of work on their hands for the next five years.<\/p>\n

Whatever happens in political circles, here\u2019s hoping that those in power will appreciate the potential for innovative architecture to have a long-term positive impact on the public realm \u2014 I\u2019ve still not decided which box I’ll tick on the ballot paper today, but great design gets my vote every time.<\/p>\n

Yours electorally,<\/p>\n

The Angry Architect<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s pretty exhausting being a British voter right now: This year\u2019s election campaign has been one of the most mind-boggling in recent memory \u2014 no fewer than seven party leaders took part in April\u2019s televised debate, leaving more questions than answers about the benefits and drawbacks of each manifesto. Public opinion is split, the race…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"architizer_featured_type":"projects","architizer_featured_image":"1172874","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2],"tags":[31],"architizer_project":[],"architizer_brand":[],"architizer_firm":[],"architizer_product":[],"class_list":["post-19365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-details","category-practice","tag-opinion"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUK Election 2015: How Your Vote Could Affect the UK Construction Industry - Architizer Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/architizer.com\/blog\/practice\/details\/uk-election-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Election 2015: How Your Vote Could Affect the UK Construction Industry - Architizer Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s pretty exhausting being a British voter right now: This year\u2019s election campaign has been one of the most mind-boggling in recent memory \u2014 no fewer than seven party leaders took part in April\u2019s televised debate, leaving more questions than answers about the benefits and drawbacks of each manifesto. 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