Secretary of state for communities and local government Sajid Javid made a tub-thumping case for overseas investment in the UK in Toronto yesterday, demonstrating the opportunities that would come from the government’s commitment to regional growth, housing and rail infrastructure.
The minister also reassured Canadian investors, plus a delegation of UK real estate developers, that the decision to withdraw from the European Union was not a desire to be “inward looking and shut ourselves off from the rest of the world”.
“No other country has ever left the EU, so we have no plan to fall back on. But there will also be opportunities, significant opportunities that come about because of the same process. You will have heard from government ministers about the British desire for more free trade agreements with countries like Canada, the US and India, so we can do more trade around the world.”
The minister was speaking at an Estates Gazette event in Toronto, hosted in partnership with the Department for International Trade and Savills.
LISTEN to the full debate in Toronto
It was held as part of a North American investment mission including a delegation of UK real estate investors and developers. The aim was to drum up business in a country which invests its second biggest portion of funds to the UK, after the US.
Javid outlined housing delivery as his number one priority. The country needs 250-300,000 homes a year to keep affordability at current levels, which, he added “was unreachable for many people”.
“You will see a government very pro-housing and construction and make a significant increase in housing delivery a very likely outcome.
He said his parallel priority was regional devolution to address “power that is too centralised and at a local level too fragmented”.
He cited Canada’s strong local leadership model as one to aspire to and emphasised to his audience that “there is a revolution going on in the UK in terms of how decisions will be made” in reference to the implementation of 10 directly elected mayors by May 2017 in the regions.
“We have major regions being kept behind by a poor structure to make decisions, but now infrastructure will be at the heart of our growth and real estate investment and there will be a great opportunity for you to look at these cities.”
• SEE ALSO: EG’s coverage of the New York and Toronto markets
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