- Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill tied to property sector
- Agenda described by some as "anti-development"
City mayors, council leaders and Whitehall politicians rub shoulders and share beers with local property developers, proptech companies and construction firms on a sunny day in Leeds. This is the government’s 'levelling up' agenda in action. A week after the government’s Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill had its first reading in the House of Commons, the inaugural UK Real Estate Infrastructure and Investment Forum (UKREiiF) last week saw more than 4,000 property professionals and government officials head to Yorkshire to network, make deals and – so the government hopes – level up the UK’s many regions through the medium of property investment and development.
The optimism is palpable. In the exhibition hall, stall after stall pitches region after region: London, Glasgow, Basingstoke, Belfast, Fife, Cheshire, Coventry, Blackpool, Cornwall, Hull – the list goes on, with almost every city and county council in the UK there asking businesses to help level up their part of the country.