UKREiiF 2025: Planning, Projects, Partnerships and People

As the sun shone over Leeds and the city buzzed with networking events and discussion, UKREiiF 2025 delivered what many across the built environment have been waiting for: signs of cautious optimism.

From large-scale infrastructure to local regeneration schemes, the energy at this year’s Forum reflected a shift in sentiment. There’s recognition that challenges remain, particularly around planning reform, viability and delivery - but also a clear belief that planning, projects, partnerships, and people will form the backbone of growth in UK real estate over the coming years.

With over a quarter of Cobalt’s UK team in attendance, representing planning, construction, and development, as well as commercial and residential real estate recruitment, we’ve drawn together the key themes that emerged - and what they mean for talent, hiring, and sector priorities.

Regeneration in Focus: What’s Changing - and What’s Working

Perhaps the most talked-about topic at UKREiiF 2025 was regeneration. It dominated panel conversations and underpinned many of the major funding and development announcements. The term took shape in three key dimensions:

• Repurposing existing assets into more resilient or profitable uses.
• Regenerating local areas to deliver housing, economic growth, and improved outcomes.
• Embedding ESG and community objectives as fundamental, not peripheral.

Across sectors, we’re seeing particular momentum in alternative asset classes. Developers and investors are increasingly exploring the conversion or redevelopment of assets into logistics and industrial space, data centres, and co-living/BTR schemes. While sentiment in some segments - such as big-box logistics - remains buoyant, there is a shared concern around the availability of viable, well-priced sites elsewhere. Unlocking these opportunities will be essential for broadening the recovery.

Importantly, environmental and social value are now central to regeneration thinking. Where ESG once sat on the fringes of feasibility assessments, it’s now closely tied to commercial outcomes - influencing everything from planning approval to leasing success and insurance terms.

As Emma Williamson, Director and Net Zero Investment Lead at M&G Real Estate, observed: “Sustainability is no longer a tick-box - it’s a commercial risk factor.” And Peter Runacres, Head of Urban Futures at Earls Court Development Company, reinforced that narrative, advocating for ESG to be framed not purely as an environmental agenda, but through social and economic lenses - reduced arrears, tenant retention, wellbeing, and community outcomes.

This shift is being supported by new sources of capital. The National Wealth Fund, as shared by Director of Banking and Investment Jeremy Barker, is now actively exploring real estate and regeneration, with £28.4 billion earmarked to support projects that drive long-term value. Where once this capital was unavailable to the sector, it is now a key lever for unlocking delivery at scale.

Planning: Policy Pressure and the Greybelt Opportunity

Regeneration doesn’t happen without planning - and many of the conversations at UKREiiF circled around the pressure points in the UK’s planning system.

One of the most prominent discussions centred on the concept of “greybelt” land - the underutilised, low-quality land located between urban settlements and protected greenbelt. In a session featuring Berkeley Homes and BNP Paribas, speakers suggested that appropriately targeted development on greybelt land could unlock upwards of 1.5 million homes.

The opportunity is real - but so are the challenges. Policy clarity, environmental considerations, and community engagement will all be essential to building consensus and delivering outcomes.

Examples like Wood Green, cited by Pippa Gueterbock, Head of Placemaking at London Borough of Haringey, demonstrate what’s possible when development is community-led. As Gilly Tobin , Director at Altair, put it: “The best results come when regeneration is done with communities, not to them.”

Partnerships Unlocking Delivery

As ever, funding and land are only part of the puzzle. What stood out strongly at UKREiiF this year was the growing strength of public-private partnerships - not only in financing but in shaping strategy, delivery models, and risk-sharing mechanisms.

We saw tangible examples of this in:

• TfL’s Places for London working with Barratt Homes and Grainger on major housing projects.
• Clyde Gateway’s role in driving strategic urban regeneration in Glasgow.
• Muse Development’s new partnerships with Wakfield Council as their strategic regeneration partner and with Manchester County Council to deliver on a £500m regeneration packages with Wythenshawe Community Housing Group.

From our own experience as a recruitment partner, we’re increasingly working with organisations operating at the intersection of sectors - developers partnering with councils, infrastructure providers joining housing consortia, and investors co-funding community projects. The skills required to deliver in these environments - from stakeholder engagement and governance navigation to programme management and ESG compliance - are evolving rapidly.

If your business is forming new partnerships, expanding into infrastructure-linked real estate, or taking on complex regeneration schemes, the talent landscape will need to reflect that complexity.

People: The Common Thread

People may not have been a listed track on the conference agenda, but they were central to every conversation we had.

Talent availability, leadership succession, and the transferability of skills came up time and again - whether in discussions on decarbonisation, digitalisation, or housing delivery. The reality is this: none of the sector’s ambitions are achievable without the right people in place.

At Cobalt, we’re continuing to support clients in:

• Building multidisciplinary teams to deliver regeneration and development programmes.
• Hiring professionals with infrastructure, planning, ESG and housing delivery expertise.
• Navigating the challenges of DE&I, workforce retention and internal progression.

We’ve also published a companion article focused specifically on skills in demand across the built environment, from what we saw at UKReiiF and in the day-to-day conversations we've been having with clients across the built environment.

Talent Strategy

If you’re actively hiring, considering strategic workforce changes, or simply want to sense-check your position in the talent market, contact the specialist recruiter in your area from our UKREiiF attendees below:

Maria Sinclair – Real Estate and Capital Markets (UK-wide)

Sam Peers – Real Estate and Capital Markets (Regional UK)

Will Jacques – Real Estate and Capital Markets (London and South East)

Kate Peers-McQueen - Construction, Residential Development and Town Planning

Sarah Shaw – Residential Development and Town Planning (Regional UK)

Eden Kendall – Residential Management

Steve Maynard – Real Estate Accounting & Finance