On 8 July 2024, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced plans to drive investment into Britain by expediting the country’s planning system. This aims to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years, unblock infrastructure projects, and develop onshore wind farms.
“The ambition and clarity it brings are crucial in these times. As a leading sustainable building materials supplier within the UK, we are fully on board with this initiative and ready to support key areas such as housebuilding, infrastructure and onshore wind,” says Lee Sleight, Aggregate Industries' MD for Aggregates.
“So far in 2024, the UK market has seen a concerning slowdown in infrastructure projects and housebuilding, with 24% less construction starts in Q1 2024 compared to the previous year, and construction output in the housing sector 19% below 2019 levels in February this year. The economic and social impact of this slowdown is significant and far-reaching. Economically, the construction industry is a major employer, and a waning market means fewer employment opportunities within the sector and related industries such as manufacturing, transport, and services. Whereas socially, the public faces a housing crisis and a dire need for more social and affordable homes. For these reasons, it is imperative that we get building moving.”
Sleight says that while the Government’s new housebuilding targets are positive, sustainability must be central to this. He continues: “We are already collaborating with developers and contractors to drive sustainable building through the increased use of reduced carbon and recycled materials.
“Without a doubt, the urgent steps the Chancellor has laid out to kickstart economic growth are necessary and achievable, and we are poised and ready for the challenge. However, taking housebuilding as an example, the one-and-a-half million homes projected over the next five years will require vast amounts of materials. A conservative estimate of just the concrete required for these homes could be 37.5 million cubic metres. For perspective, this equates to more than nine times the capacity of Wembley Stadium and underscores the importance of recycled materials. This is why it’s crucial we create a new blueprint for the Great British built environment.”
Aggregate Industries has ambitious plans to help achieve net zero and is adopting a circular economy approach across everything the company does.
Sleight concludes: “The construction industry must responsibly embrace the Chancellor’s national mission for growth but can only achieve this by building in a circular and wholly sustainable way. This goes far beyond just minimising waste. Effectively, we need to build new cities from the ‘urban quarry’ of our old stock, thereby conserving the precious resources of our island nation.”
