Simon Allford says incoming leader has ‘colossal task on her hands’ as foreign secretary beats Rishi Sunak with 57% of the vote
RIBA president Simon Allford has called on the government to prioritise energy efficiency improvements to buildings following Liz Truss’ election as the next prime minister.
Allford said Truss has a “colossal task on her hands” to address soaring energy prices and inflation. He added that the confirmation of Truss, who was the frontrunner in the election, as the new Conservative party leader is an opportunity to “refocus and prioritise” on areas including a national retrofit strategy and building regulations.
Truss, the foreign secretary, beat former chancellor Rishi Sunak to the role.
She will formally take over tomorrow afternoon when Boris Johnson, who was elected in summer 2019, leaves his position.
Turnout of the Tory party membership was 83% with Truss winning 57% of the vote, the lowest margin of any Conservative leader elected by a ballot of the whole membership. Sunak secured the backing of 42% of members.
Truss said: “Thank you for putting your trust in me to lead and deliver for our great country. I will take bold action to get all of us through these tough times, grow our economy.”
Reacting to Truss’ win, Allford said: “As people and businesses grapple with soaring inflation and surging energy prices prompting major fears about heating homes this winter, Liz Truss has a colossal task on her hands.
“While some form of immediate relief is clearly vital, Truss must also prioritise long-term energy efficiency improvements.”
> Also read: Britain is crumbling - politics needs to address the built environment
Allford, who is also co-founder and director of AHMM, said this should include implementing a national retrofit strategy to significantly reduce home energy consumption and create thousands of jobs.
He also said funding must be protected for the Energy Company Obligation (ECO), a government scheme which obliges energy suppliers to promote energy efficiency improvements to low income households.
Allford added: “Building safety and planning reforms cannot fall to the wayside. Truss must also prioritise embedding clear, robust building safety and accessibility requirements into regulations, properly resourcing planning departments, and ensuring long overdue planning reforms deliver the types of high-quality homes we need.
“This is an opportunity for the government to refocus and prioritise.”
A cabinet reshuffle is expected in the hours after Truss assumes the post with a new housing secretary widely expected to take over from incumbent Greg Clark who has only been in the role since the summer since Michael Gove was sacked.
In Liz we Truss? What the built environment is saying
Atelier Ten founding director Patrick Bellew:
“Liz Truss inherits an unenviable collection of big issues around the economy, energy costs, pandemic and Brexit fallout and the state of the union, but all of these are dwarfed by the existential and now visible challenge of the climate crisis. We can only hope that she sticks to her pre-election promise to “double down” on the UK goal of net-zero by 2050.”
Simon Peacock, head of UK regions at JLL
“More so than for any other prime minister in living memory, there’s no time to waste for Liz Truss. Businesses across all of the UK’s regions are keen to see meaningful progress made on this Government’s levelling up and Net Zero commitments, especially with a potential recession looming.
“Devolution, spending on infrastructure and creating clusters of businesses with specialisms in green industries are all high up the wish list for businesses, but they also want to see more engagement with local leaders to ensure their voices are being heard. A new government means a fresh start, but action is needed sooner rather than later.”
Gillian Charlesworth, CEO, Building Research Establishment
“The new UK Government must ramp up its action on climate change – and central to this should be driving a green transition in the built environment. We were pleased to see the newly appointed Prime Minister, Liz Truss, pledging to help people insulate their homes as the UK heads towards net zero. However, we will need to go much further if we are to fully decarbonise the UK’s building stock, which currently makes up a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“With macroeconomic pressures worsening, rolling out measures to improve the energy efficiency of our housing stock will be paramount in relieving households of the financial pressures they are currently facing. This is why we are urging our new Prime Minister to publish a credible and effective plan to decarbonise our existing homes and buildings.
“It is crucial that any plans to scrap green levies do not impact energy efficiency schemes, which are critical in delivering improvements to our housing stock.”
Stephen Marcos Jones, CEO of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering
“The process has – unfortunately – delayed much needed action from Government. We know that inflation, rising energy prices and wages are already severely impacting the short to medium term outlook for our sector.
“Investment in our national infrastructure, and the construction industry more widely, is crucial to weathering any potential economic storm. It will ensure we maintain a long-term view on the economy and invest in a sector which can provide jobs and growth.”
RIBA President Simon Allford
“As people and businesses grapple with soaring inflation and surging energy prices prompting major fears about heating homes this winter, Liz Truss has a colossal task on her hands.
“While some form of immediate relief is clearly vital, Truss must also prioritise long-term energy efficiency improvements. This includes protecting funding for Energy Company Obligation (ECO) and implementing a National Retrofit Strategy to significantly reduce home energy consumption and create thousands of jobs across the country.
“Building safety and planning reforms cannot fall to the wayside. Truss must also prioritise embedding clear, robust building safety and accessibility requirements into regulations, properly resourcing planning departments, and ensuring long overdue planning reforms deliver the types of high-quality homes we need.
“This is an opportunity for the Government to refocus and prioritise.”
ADP Architecture managing director Stephen Miles:
“With the nomination of Liz Truss as the newly established prime minister-elect, we hope this brings to a close this period of political uncertainty regardless of your party leanings. This government needs urgently to bring a sharp focus back to climate, green investments, and reducing our reliance on dirty energy that is creating a generational crisis in the cost of living.
“We are disappointed to note that none of the candidates have made any forward to commitment to addressing the historically poor criteria for VAT exemption within construction, which would greatly improve the liquidity within the sector, and actively promote the retention and improvement of current building stocks.
”This government must look to address the energy price cap immediately, as well as committing to deliver new affordable housing, at the highest possible standards of construction and energy performance. It is crucial that Westminster re-establishes subsidies and grants towards building refurbishment, and advocate for the improvement of the UK’s degrading stock of housing and commercial properties otherwise we risk seeing millions more people go into fuel poverty over winter, and thousands more businesses forced into closing due to spiralising costs.”
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