The missing sector in Britain's growth strategy

Andy Burnham has put the built environment at the centre of his agenda. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, Burnham oversaw the regeneration-led revival of the city, and now as Prime Minister, many of his early moves – whether on housing, infrastructure, energy, or utilities – have been focused on unleashing growth through the sector. 

But what exactly is the built environment? For years, it has been discussed as a collection of separate industries: housing, planning, construction, infrastructure, real estate, architecture, engineering, transport, and regeneration. Yet anyone working across the sector knows the reality is very different. Homes cannot be delivered without planning and infrastructure. Regeneration depends on investment, design, construction, and long-term management. The different disciplines are interconnected and collectively responsible for creating the places that underpin economic growth and social progress. 

New London Architecture’s One Built Environment campaign seeks to bring together everyone who funds, plans, designs, builds, and operates the places that shape our lives. At the same time, it makes the case for government to recognise the built environment as a single economic sector within the UK's Industrial Strategy and forthcoming ten-year plan for Britain. 

After all, the built environment contributes around 25% of UK GVA, supports one in eight jobs, and generates £168 billion in exports, according to NLA. By any measure, it is one of the country's most important economic engines. 

Yet despite its scale, the sector is still viewed through separate policy lenses. Housing sits in one department, transport in another, planning elsewhere, while investment, energy and skills are often addressed independently. The resulting fragmentation slows decision making, restricts investment, and makes it harder to deliver the homes, infrastructure, and regeneration projects the country needs. 

Recognition of the built environment as a single sector would create a stronger framework for aligning policy, supporting investment, developing skills and improving productivity. Crucially, it would also ensure the built environment has a clearer voice in the decisions that will shape the UK's future growth. 

With the Budget approaching and the government's long-term economic strategy being developed, there is a significant opportunity to influence how the built environment is represented for years to come. Once those frameworks are established, the parameters for policy and investment will largely be set. 

Encouragingly, the NLA’s campaign is attracting broad support from a substantial coalition of developers, architects, engineers, contractors, investors and advisers. Organisations including British Land, Berkeley Group, Arcadis, JLL, Savills, Mott MacDonald, Multiplex, Gensler and SOM have all backed the call for change. 

This is not about replacing the priorities of individual disciplines. However, it is important to recognise that many of the biggest issues confronting the UK, from housing delivery and infrastructure investment to decarbonisation and regional growth, can only be addressed when the built environment is understood as an integrated system rather than a collection of silos. 

The Prime Minister has put growth, housing, and infrastructure at the centre of his government's agenda, giving the built environment a rare opportunity. We now need a policy framework that recognises the built environment as a system through which homes are delivered, infrastructure is built, investment is unlocked, and places are transformed. Ultimately, if government is serious about delivering long-term growth, it should recognise the sector in the same integrated way that those working within it already do.