UKREiiF | All the news, announcements from 2026

More than 16,000 property professionals descended on the West Yorkshire city en masse for the property expo and its vibrant fringe. Here are the big talking points from this year’s convention for those in the North and Midlands.

Reform’s Jake Berry says the party is not wedded to ideology as it draws up its policy platform, adding that deregulation, devolution and delivery could form the basis of the party’s general election manifesto in three years.

Town and city centres will become “deserts” if the government does not cut taxes for bars and restaurants, according to the industry body’s chief executive Allen Simpson.

The last 10 years have brought us wars, political uncertainty at home and abroad, Brexit, and a pandemic. Panellists at Place North’s Wednesday breakfast conference discussed how the sector has delivered amid the chaos and how it will continue to do so in the future. 

“This is only the start on devolution,” secretary of state Steve Reed told Place on Wednesday, in an exclusive interview after his stage session with Pat Ritchie at the Leeds-based investment conference.

After a busy day of meetings, panel discussions, queuing for coffee, searching for signal, and hot-footing it between Leeds Dock and the city, attendees were able to relax and unwind at Place’s reception drinks at Revolución de Cuba on Call Lane.

Voters made one thing abundantly clear in the local elections, according to secretary of state Steve Reed: “They want to see change faster.” At UKREiiF, he and Homes England chair Pat Ritchie shared how they were going to answer that call to action.

Understood to include office schemes at One Pall Mall Gardens and Martins Bank, six projects worth more than £200m will receive support from the fund.

Jolly Harbour may not exist today, but the fictional town conjured up by those attending Place North’s Tuesday breakfast event served as a great testbed for conversations about placemaking best practice.

Introducing tax breaks to help regenerate ailing town centres and cutting planning red tape would be among the party’s focuses if it were to form a government at the next general election, according to deputy leader Richard Tice.

What more can be done to make it easier and more viable to convert older buildings into much-needed homes? That was the question pondered recently by Crystal Jenkins, associate director at Overford, and Capital&Centric co-founder Tim Heatley.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has defended the government’s approach to planning and housing reform, rejecting claims it was ‘underprepared’ on entering office.

Around 4,500 homes and 2m sq ft of commercial space could be delivered next door to the town’s main train station under plans being drawn up in response to the anticipated arrival of a new railway line between Liverpool and Manchester.

More than 16,000 property professionals and public sector leaders will be gathering at Leeds’ Royal Armouries in May. Place can help you make the most of the convention, with an array of services to help your business stand out.

The introduction of the Building Safety Act has added layers of complexity and red-tape to the construction and development process. This mega-roundtable, gathered together by Project Four, discussed the challenges involved with the new legislation and what the industry needs to do moving forward.

The built environment is a major contributor to global carbon emissions, and refurbishing and retrofitting existing structures is crucial to achieving net zero targets. This roundtable, convened by DeSimone Consulting Engineering, brought together developers, architects, and real estate experts to discuss the pros and cons of breathing new life into a building.

Place North’s invitation-only briefing on the Wednesday morning at UKREiiF explored one of the biggest and most enduring obstacles the property and development industry is seeking to overcome – society’s distrust of the sector.

UKREiiF brought echoes of MIPIM and an encouraging sign that our industry has built some real momentum in overcoming challenges and optimising opportunities, writes Paul Dodsworth, group managing director of Caddick Construction.

There was a palpable sense of nervousness among the delegation’s public sector contingent about the rise of a certain political party, while the private sector vented its frustration about the Building Safety Act, hoping for a confidence-boosting spending review.