As the construction industry faces turbulent times, such as navigating changes to regulations, experiencing ongoing skills challenges, and adapting to evolving policies, you’d be forgiven for feeling like decisions are being made by people who don’t truly grasp the complex challenges causing barriers within your businesses.
At the National Federation of Builders (NFB) our role is to change that. Through well thought out advocacy and targeted media engagement we ensure that our industry is not only heard but actively involved in decision making.
What does this look like in practice? When local authorities (LAs) were setting their own energy efficiency standards and embodied carbon requirements we acted, calling on the Government to put an end to this. Our intervention led to a Written Ministerial Statement on 13 December 2023 and titled ‘Planning – Local Energy Efficiency Standards Update’, which confirmed that LPAs cannot go beyond Building Regulations on Part L.
When politicians attempted to mandate swift bricks on all new homes. We stopped that, twice. Why? Because we recognised that if swift bricks were mandated, solutions such as bat boxes or hedgehog highways would be next, therefore becoming a tick box exercise and likely limiting the likelihood that they would be added to the Biodiversity Net Gain metric to help meet the 10% gain requirement. On both occasions our message got through, allowing us to pursue a more progressive conversation on how we contribute to biodiversity and help developers meet regulations.
Then there’s the Building Safety Levy (BSL). We were the loudest voice fighting to make sure the BSL doesn’t disproportionately target innocent housebuilders. As part of these efforts in the BSL consultation we lobbied for an exemption on sites of fewer than 50 homes and also running a campaign for the BSL to be levied on all of the industries accountable that the Grenfell report found accountable. Our strategic campaign allowed us to place enough pressure on the levy resulting in a year-long delay, giving us more time to fight for a fairer solution.
While the 50 homes exemption was rejected in the BSL consultation response, it was later adopted for consideration in the recent consultation Medium-sized site consultation. This shows how advocacy isn’t always about immediate wins; it is about playing the long game and being persistent and tactical with our approach.
This can also be seen in the NFB’s long-term campaign for a ‘Medium’ sized site definition which, after 7 years of dedicated and relentless lobbying, finally looks to be implemented in planning terms. This is a huge policy win for the industry and the NFB. However, the work does not stop there, the NFB continues to urge for this proposal to be taken further by pushing for more sites to be put forward to widen its impact on the broader industry and to ensure its purpose is fully maximised. A proportionate planning system is the right starting point for any reforms.
Similar strategies were taken to ensure CITB increased their focus on non-Tier 1 contractors, housebuilders, retrofit and out of scope sectors, late payment was better highlighted and procurement reforms, which need much more work, recognised and better supported regional contractors.
Our successes are the result of purposeful advocacy and consistent engagement, not just through lobbying policy makers, but also through widespread media communications. To shape policies and promote our members positions and needs, we put ourselves front and centre of the conversation, whether it’s national news, trade media, regional outlets, radio, or TV, the NFB uses every channel available to strategically obtain a breadth of coverage to champion the industry. This ensures we can put the spotlight on policy makers and crucially demonstrate that our members are part of the solution to the housing, skills, and infrastructure challenges.
Every conversation we have, every article we publish, every interview, and every campaign comes from the experiences of our members. That’s what makes our advocacy successful. The more we hear from you, the more you can shape our policy work and media communications, and the stronger our voice becomes.
Mia Silverfield and Rico Wojtulewicz,
NFB Policy Team
To share your thoughts email:
policy@builders.org.uk
