Time for a Real Focus on Real Assets

You won’t have missed coverage of the government’s Northern Ireland Investment Summit earlier this month, a prime minister-led set piece in Belfast designed to drive investment in the region.

What all but the keenest eyed may not have spotted were the asset classes which the government choose to champion. Financial services was one, of course. Science and technology too. But wait for it, so was real assets.

Now I’ll be measured. Few will feel ministers have been unwavering in their support for the built environment in recent months and, for some, years. Mooted reform – or sometimes a lack of it – to planning, the private rented sector and EPCs have all drawn not-so-friendly ire. Uncertainty and delay to other reforms, not least building safety, has been a source of consternation too.

So to see real assets so elevated should be welcomed.

Why does it matter? If sustained, it would be a powerful signal that government recognises the built environment is integral to delivery of any policy agenda. Levelling up? Impossible without this sector’s capital and expertise? Housing? The public purse alone cannot deliver at a scale that begins to approach need.

Even core service delivery requires private, built environment input these days. Take Birmingham city council, which is having to consider asset sales to fund day-to-day spending. It is already working closely with LendLease. Further partnerships are likely.

Meanwhile the dividend generated by Transport for London’s property arm – often through joint ventures – helps keep the tube running.

It would be helpful if the Northern Ireland Investment Summit’s recognition of real assets as a top-three business sector is highly visible in all relevant, future ministerial messaging. It would be helpful too if Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves’ corporate charm offensive results in Labour trumpeting its importance too.

Perhaps more critical than that though is that the message lands in Treasury. Public sector-seeded investment in real assets can drive economic growth, raise productivity and deliver levelling up. Ensuring understanding of the message among mandarins is as important as persuading politicians.

Damian Wild