UKREiiF 2026 - Ambition Meets Reality

UKREiiF 2026 is officially in the books, and the Field team is back at HQ chewing over the last three days of roundtables, panels, keynotes and of course karaoke.

This year marked UKREiiF's fifth birthday and the fourth time that Field has had the pleasure of attending. Move over Cannes. Leeds and ‘Reef’ has firmly established itself as the place to be each spring.

Every year feels bigger than the last, and the scale and seniority of central government representation this year underlined just how important the sector is to UK plc, not only as a driver of economic growth but as a creator of opportunity and value across communities.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the growing economic headwinds and uncertain political backdrop, the mood across the event was somewhat mixed. Field’s own event on tackling the housing crisis in an increasingly fragmented political landscape brought that into sharp focus. We would say this - but it was a session not to be missed and one that those who attended will not soon forget. A lively - and perhaps at times even ‘spicy’ - cross-party debate ensued where the challenge was agreed but the solution manifestly not.

An internet outage around the Royal Armouries caused its fair share of missed messages and crossed wires over the three days. In some ways, it felt symbolic of the wider disconnect between the messages coming out of government and the experience of many people on the ground.

In his opening keynote, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook restated the government’s commitment to economic growth and solving the housing crisis and listed the body of work the government has already undertaken, from revising the NPPF to the launch of the National Housing Bank. These are significant and have been welcomed with enthusiasm, and in Pennycook, we have an impressive communicator and a level of stability and credibility in MHCLG that has been sorely lacking.

However, there was a sense that the impact of these interventions is not yet being felt on the ground and certainly isn’t reflected in the housing numbers as of yet. Viability remained the word on everyone’s lips. Another regular refrain around the pavilions and panels in Leeds was that the focus on supply side interventions must now be accompanied by sustained action to promote demand, be that a return of Help to Buy or a move on Stamp Duty.

But the Field team did not leave Leeds feeling disillusioned. The challenges are real, but the sector remains ambitious and resilient. The confidence, energy and innovation that was on show and remained undimmed by swirling wind and sideways rain, reminds us why this event and this sector matters and is more than enough to give me reason to be optimistic.