Remit Consulting’s Steph Yates and Charlie Bolam spent three days at UKREiiF, in Leeds, attending panels, meeting clients and partners, and taking the pulse of the UK real estate market.
Here's what stood out.
The macro mood: cautiously optimistic
The market is optimistic but slow. Volatile is the new normal. The UK remains a haven for global capital; our relatively stable government and strong legislative framework continue to be genuine differentiators. But our weaknesses are equally well known: successive governments meddling with budgets, a lack of joined-up thinking across departments (land, planning, utilities, and transport all operating in silos), and a persistent reluctance to welcome private infrastructure investment.
Net zero: the gap between ambition and delivery
One of the most striking statistics of the week: the amount of energy curtailed in the UK in 2025 was enough to power London for an entire year. Investment in renewable generation has raced ahead of investment in transmission, and that gap needs to close. Placing data centres adjacent to renewable energy plants was floated as one practical solution.
Net zero cannot be achieved without private finance, and local authorities are saying that they need to be genuine partners in that story, not just recipients of policy. Enabling communities to financially benefit from local renewable schemes could also be a powerful antidote to political backlash. Meanwhile, there's a real skills and language gap between local authority teams and the financial institutions they need to work with. Closing that gap is as important as any policy lever.
Planning: still broken, still getting worse
A consistent theme across conversations, from lawyers to developers to architects, was deep frustration with the planning system. The consensus: skilled planners are leaving for consultancy and private sector roles, and the pipeline isn't being replenished. This isn't a new problem, but it's an accelerating one.
AI and data: foundations first
Several panels this week circled the same truth: technology is an enabler, not a solution. The biggest risk in real estate right now isn't underinvesting in AI; it's overinvesting without the right people, processes, and data foundations in place. Asset managers may understand the value of tech integration, but ground-floor teams often don't, and if they don't, adoption fails - with expensive mistakes following.
The data centre conversation brought this into sharp focus: three-quarters of a data centre's lifetime cost is energy. Location decisions are fundamentally energy decisions. Getting the underlying data right matters enormously.
Housing and social value
Average build times have ballooned from 11 to 40 weeks. The UK is now importing bricks rather than making them. And on Thursday, Homes England, Oxford City Council and the Crown Estate were among those calling for a shared database to capture social value and wellbeing data across schemes; building the evidence base that developers and councils both need.
There was also a notable push from the One Built Environment campaign to have the real estate sector recognised as a single economic entity, with aligned policy, unlocked investment, new homes, and a stronger talent pipeline. A collective voice for an industry that has too often spoken in fragments.
And finally, the conversations that matter most
As ever, the real value of UKREiiF is in the meetings, the drinks receptions, and the chance encounters in between. Thank you to everyone who made time for us this week. The conversations were, as always, the highlight.
What were your standout moments from Leeds this year?