UKREiiF returned to Leeds last week and, as ever, it was a useful place to gauge where the development sector's head is at. The scale of ambition on display was familiar. What felt different this year was the focus on delivery, and specifically, what it takes to get schemes consented and built.

Last year, I left Leeds energised. UKREiiF 2025 had all the hallmarks of an industry hitting its stride - 16,000 delegates, ministerial firepower, and a shared sense of purpose around the Labour Government's ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes. It was, as many said, the “Glastonbury of the built environment”.

Twelve months on, as the industry prepares to return to Leeds on 19–21 May, the question I'll be asking is whether the buzz has become momentum, or has reality started to bite?

When new homes are built, renewable energy systems installed or other new development constructed it is children and young people who must live with the results for the longest.

Yet witnesses to the House of Lords Built Environment Committee this week (April 21) explained that when it comes to community engagement, those least likely to be asked for their views, or to offer them, are the young.

What’s the most common complaint you hear from people who fear their quality of life will be adversely affected by new developments in their neighbourhood?  Answer: “We knew nothing at all about this – it has come as a complete shock!”

In its almost 50-page report titled New Towns: Creating Communities, the House of Lords Built Environment Committee recognises the problem of failing to keep neighbours and stakeholders informed of a plan - and suggests the solution.

The truth, of course, far from the shady deal the headline suggests, was that a perfectly decent proposal eventually proved so uncontroversial, and so policy-compliant, that a council’s planning officers were able to approve it under delegated powers this month (March 2026).

Managing expectations is a key political skill and Chancellor Rachel Reeves had already dialled down any potential excitement about her Spring Statement, even before she set off from Downing Street for the House of Commons.  In the event what happened in the Chamber was even less dramatic than most of us had been expecting.

As a communications consultancy focused on delivering for clients in the land and property sectors, KOR Communications rarely spends time reflecting on its own journey.

But with 2026 marking the 20^th anniversary of the business we thought it was time to look back on our two decades of growth, celebrate the successes, acknowledge the challenges and set out some ambitions for the future.

With growing concerns over the potential lifetime burden of repaying a student loan, an increasing number of young people are considering alternatives to a university education at 18+ - alternatives that will give them the same flying start in their careers.

The proportion of electricity generated by renewables in Britain hit a new record high in 2025. But there is still a big gap between where we are now and the Government’s target of 95% of electricity generated from non-fossil fuels by 2030 – just four years away.

Former NFU President Minette Batters deliberately and sensibly concentrated on core agricultural practices in her detailed and extremely well-researched Farm Profitability Review, commissioned by the Government last April and finally published on Thursday December 18th.

KOR Communications, based in Exeter for almost twenty years, is proud to be among supporters of the first major building project at Exeter Cathedral for 500 years. 

Businesses based on land and property ownership were among the losers in the Chancellor’s Budget this week (November 26) with a rise in the tax on income earned from property among the biggest blows for landowners. 

International Project Management Day, on November 6 2025, is a celebration of the economic and social value of projects and the people who deliver them. KOR Communications provides support for rural and urban schemes, helping landowners and managers get projects, from new housing to renewable energy developments, over the line.