UK General Election: An election to empower a sustainable future

Following the announcement by the Prime Minister, the UK will now go to the polls in a General Election to be held on 4 July, 2024.

Over the coming weeks, we will hear from parties about how they plan to prioritise much-needed housing, deliver new infrastructure investment and support people with the cost-of-living challenges.

This must be an election that puts the built and natural environment at its forefront. We need ambitious but realistic plans to deliver more affordable homes and create vibrant, place-driven communities while ensuring our commitment to meeting net zero.

Last year we launched our RICS Manifesto, Empowering a Sustainable Future, which sets out how investing in communities, placemaking and infrastructure, will unlock economic and social growth across the country.

Among our calls for parties to commit to and the next government:

• A housing delivery strategy that meets targets and creates safe, affordable, high-quality homes for owners and renters.
• Revitalising communities, unlocking growth and creating an attractive investment environment.
• Developing a low-carbon, highly-skilled Britain that supports our energy security needs by investing in energy-efficient buildings, a renewable-centric national grid and sustainable infrastructure.

The RICS manifesto aims to support the creation of a sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous UK. It addresses challenges faced in the construction and real estate sectors, promotes sustainable development, and solves the skills shortage.

RICS and its members, can support policymakers in refining their ideas into holistic policies that will work.  Our public interest mandate, and our professionals expertise across the built and natural environment will prove invaluable, and we are ready to work in partnership with all political parties to realise their ambitious agenda, and to ensure a built and natural environment that works for all.