What if Britain’s next construction boom is driven from the regions?

For years, our industry has looked to Whitehall for the answers. But what if the most important decisions for Britain’s next decade of construction are made not in Westminster but in Manchester, Birmingham and regional centres across England?

Devolution is not new. Successive governments have pursued City Deals, Combined Authorities and metro mayors. What feels different now is the prominence Labour has given it within its growth agenda: a serious attempt to move power and decision-making closer to the places where investment, development and regeneration actually happen.

Andy Burnham’s Greater Manchester offers a useful model of what empowered regional leadership can look like, although the government itself was led by prime minister Keir Starmer. For construction and property professionals, the important question is not political. It is practical: will this shift unlock housing, infrastructure and regeneration, speed up planning and give investors a clearer, more dependable pipeline?

Devolution matters to me as a business leader. RLB has a physical presence across the UK. We work to a shared national vision but delivery depends on understanding the priorities, markets and constraints of each place.

We have seen first-hand that when councils, industry and communities align around a shared vision, change can happen with stronger local support. From that experience, I believe five things will determine whether devolution fulfils its potential.

First, get the right people in the right roles. It sounds simple but it is the foundation of delivery. My concern is not whether government is moving power out of Whitehall. It is whether capability is moving with it. Greater Manchester and the West Midlands show the potential of devolved leadership but authorities also need people who understand planning, development, procurement and the long-term nature of built-environment investment. Power without capability will simply move the bottleneck.

Second, create a credible fiscal roadmap. Regional leaders cannot plan major housing and infrastructure programmes around short-term competitions and fragmented funding pots. They need greater certainty, clear accountability and enough flexibility to align transport, utilities, skills and development. There is also a people question: how will local and regional government attract expertise from industry and Whitehall if the roles, resources and career paths are not compelling?

Third, accept that ‘good’ will look different in different places. At RLB, we know that an approach that works in one market may not work in another. A national framework is useful, but local leaders must have room to respond to local housing need, infrastructure constraints, economic strengths and community priorities. Ultimately, our clients serve people who live and work in the places we help to shape. Local need must sit at the centre of development, not at the end of the consultation process.

Fourth, collaborate properly. The word is overused in our industry but genuine collaboration means bringing the whole delivery ecosystem together: central and local government, investors, developers, consultants, contractors, utilities and communities. On a recent Accrington town regeneration programme, RLB worked with Hyndburn Borough Council, AEW Architects and other partners on town-centre regeneration, including Burtons Chambers. The lesson was straightforward: progress came from acting as one team around the needs of the place, rather than protecting institutional boundaries.

If Labour succeeds in embedding genuine devolution, the next decade of construction growth in England will be shaped less by individual Whitehall funding decisions and more by regional leaders, capable local institutions and partnerships built around place

The proposed role of Strategic Authorities and Spatial Development Strategies is therefore encouraging. Joining up housing, infrastructure, economic growth, transport, utilities and local services should give development a clearer spatial logic. But plans only matter if they become investable programmes with realistic sequencing, funding and delivery capacity.

Fifth, make devolution durable. It has to outlast the person, the post and the party. Budgets, governance and new powers are enablers; trust is what makes them work. Leaders must be empowered to act, held accountable for outcomes and given the tools and support to succeed.

There is a challenge here for our industry too. We cannot simply wait for regional authorities to tell us what they need. Construction and property businesses should bring market intelligence, ideas, capability and innovation to the table early, helping places turn ambition into credible programmes and projects.

If Labour succeeds in embedding genuine devolution, the next decade of construction growth in England will be shaped less by individual Whitehall funding decisions and more by regional leaders, capable local institutions and partnerships built around place. That could offer our sector something it has lacked for too long: a clearer line of sight from local ambition to investable pipeline and, ultimately, delivery. The opportunity is substantial. The test is whether power, funding and capability move together.

Andrew Reynolds is RLB UK & Europe chief executive