This week the UK government published the Levelling Up white paper. The term ‘levelling up’ is practically inescapable, and there’s a broad consensus that it is meant to be a process by which regional disparities are addressed. The white paper seeks to answer the all-important ‘how’ question.
The white paper covers a lot of ground, including regional powers, education, crime, and 5G internet coverage in its 12 ‘missions’ for levelling up.
Critics of the paper have highlighted that the majority of policies and funding pots covered in the white paper have been announced previously. Supporters highlight that bringing together a central vision to this work can be helpful in ensuring that government can focus on implementation. That said, there was some new language outlining new priorities and interests for government, particularly in relation to the built environment.
The white paper contains details of an upcoming Strategy for Community Spaces and Relationships, aimed at; making it easier for communities to come together to set local priorities, building evidence bases of ‘what works’, engagement between communities and local authorities, and reaching out to the most disconnected communities.
The white paper includes a welcome recognition that poor quality housing is a significant barrier to levelling-up, and can pose real problems for individuals and communities. It states that it will seek to address these issues through upcoming plans to reform the planning system and support greater retrofitting.
Improving energy efficiency through retrofitting our existing housing stock is key to both levelling up and reaching net zero. Energy efficiency improvements reduce household energy bills, resulting in a sustained boost to the economy and consumption through increased disposable incomes in the long term.
Retrofitting homes to be more energy efficient would also create skilled employment opportunities. Some regions in the UK, for example, the North East and West Midlands, have both a high volume of energy inefficient homes and high levels of unemployment. Investing in energy efficiency will create jobs across the country, often in areas that need it the most – providing local jobs for local people.
Disappointingly, the white paper lacked details on how the retrofitting revolution we require would be achieved. The RIBA continues to call on the government to bring forward a National Retrofit Strategy – a long term policy and investment programme for upgrading the energy efficiency of our housing stock.
There is also an announcement that there will be a new task force set up to address the quality and provision of housing for older people. This comes with a recognition that the provision of suitable housing for older people is set to become a significant regional issue and there is a real risk that some may be trapped in unsuitable housing. This follows the publication of the RIBA’s report A Home For The Ages, which outlined the long-term social and economic costs to communities that could occur without a significant consideration of the issue.
