Hopes and fears for 2025

Bold leadership, greater diversity, a circular approach and a focus on cracking the housing crisis are all on my wishlist for 2025

As 2025 looms, my reflections on the sector’s future revolve around a single word: action. Our ability to scrutinise, delay, comment and too often complain is second to none. Bill Gates said, “People often overestimate what will happen in the next two years and underestimate what will happen in ten.”

In our sector, we overestimate both counts. Change is painfully slow. My hope for 2025 is that we’ll take demonstrable steps to break this cycle – driven by political will, economic confidence, and courageous leadership.

Building for Purpose: Circularity, Biodiversity, and Sustainability

I hope the construction industry will embrace a bold shift in priorities – one that integrates actionable sustainability, biodiversity, and strategic circularity into every project, enough with empty branding and vague promises about serving humanity and the environment. Let’s double down on a smaller number of meaningful social and environmental measures. We need purposeful action that aligns building practices with long-term planetary goals.

A circular approach to construction – treating buildings as material banks – should underpin this transformation. Materials must be viewed as assets that can be reused, repurposed, and retained within the system. By deconstructing to maximise reuse, prioritising kits of parts, and embracing technologies that track material lifecycles, we can reduce waste and drive real innovation. Buildings must serve their immediate purpose and provide value beyond their operational lives. Circularity can add complexity and cost; the whole value chain must work together to change this over the coming year, with insurers playing a critical role.

Equally, natural capital must no longer be an afterthought. The Dasgupta Review, published three years ago, highlighted the alarming decline in wildlife populations and the profound risk this poses to humanity. In 2025, every project must integrate natural capital gains into its foundation – not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a core principle of sustainable development. This demands investment in green and blue infrastructure, integration of climate resilience, and concerted efforts to enhance natural habitats and restore ecosystems. It also requires a long-term perspective guided by whole-life costing. Construction needs to sustain life, not just accommodate it.

This transformation requires confronting a fundamental tension: reconciling a growth-driven business model with reducing environmental impact. Leadership must shift toward fewer but better projects in most sectors, focusing on retrofitting, reimagining existing spaces, and valuing quality over quantity. Exciting businesses like Capital & Centric and British Land are resetting the standard, demonstrating that aligning profit with purpose is possible. More must follow in the next year.

Homes for people, not politics

The housing crisis remains one of the industry’s defining challenges, and I fear that during 2025, we’ll still fail to deliver on even modest promises. One in 25 children in London is homeless; in Newham, it’s one in twelve. Lofty targets like 1.5 million homes sound impressive but remain unachieved under any recent government. Without meaningful action, these are just paper promises.

Systemic planning delays, chronic underfunding, a shortage of skills, and a lack of leadership continue to exacerbate the housing crisis. The focus must extend beyond sheer numbers to ensure affordable, high-quality homes that meet the Future Homes Standard. Housing strategy should prioritise people over politics, beginning with leadership stability – having a housing minister remain in post for more than a few months should be the bare minimum.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework and proposed reforms to modernise local decision-making are positive steps forward, offering a glimmer of hope. Partnerships between institutional investors, landowners, housebuilders, and Homes England have also shown promise over the last year, as has the growth of impact investing. Place-based impact investing could be a game-changer, unlocking housing and infrastructure delivery where it is needed most- one to watch in 2025.

Built to lead: Accelerating inclusion, unlocking possibility

Transformative progress in construction hinges on diverse leadership. Despite some strides, statistics reveal a stark gap. Women comprise only 14.7% of the workforce, and leadership remains overwhelmingly dominated by white men. Ethnic minorities account for just 5.4% of workers, far below their 13.8% share of the UK population.

Leadership homogeneity fosters groupthink, stifling innovation and adaptability in tackling challenges like climate resilience and the housing crisis. Conversely, diverse leadership brings broader perspectives, sharper problem-solving, and better financial outcomes. According to McKinsey research, companies with diverse leadership outperform their peers by 25-36%.

Encouragingly, 2024 saw programmes like Mentoring Circle gain traction, helping attract and retain underrepresented talent. In addition to these initiatives, we need new metrics beyond pay gaps and basic diversity figures. Mandated targets and transparent reporting must become the norm. In 2025, diversity in leadership should no longer be seen as a moral imperative, it’s the strategic advantage that can redefine our industry. Under my Christmas tree this year, I wish for bold leadership ready to act, not just another report destined to gather dust. Let 2025 be the year we turn aspirations into measurable progress.

*This article first appeared in Building magazine ion 19th December 2024: https://www.building.co.uk/comment/act-now-and-make-the-new-year-a-time-of-real-change/5133378.article