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MPs fret over economic impact of Brexit, property federation finds

Most British MPs are worried about the economic impact of Brexit, according to a survey carried out by industry body, the British Property Federation (BPF).

A poll by ComRes on the BPF’s behalf showed that 74% of MPs believed Brexit would adversely affect business investment in the UK, while nearly half (49%) believed such an impact was likely to be significant.

The poll also showed that 71% of MPs believed Brexit would adversely affect the UK’s economic growth, and 59% and 56% thought the same for productivity and retail sales, respectively.

The next government must maintain momentum on creating an industrial strategy to deliver greater productivity and economic growth– Melanie Leech, BPF chief executive

Because British real estate has a market value of £1.6trn and underpins most of the UK’s economic activity, the BPF called on whatever government emerged after the 8 June election to work with the property industry to mitigate against any adverse effects of Brexit.

The next government will need to drive productivity and economic growth across the country to support a successful post-Brexit UK, as well as to tackle critical issues such as increasing housing supply to meet current and future need, the BPF said, industry magazine Building reports.

"Nervousness is not surprising given that we are entering uncertain territory at the start of the Brexit negotiations but we must be careful not to talk ourselves into a self-fulfilling loss of confidence and the next government must take the right actions to build a successful UK economy for the future," said BPF chief executive Melanie Leech.

"Real estate has a significant contribution to make and we urge the government to work with our industry to maintain business confidence in the UK and drive economic growth; provide fair, competitive and stable tax, regulatory and planning systems; invest in infrastructure and free up public sector land; help us to address the skills shortage in our industry; and support more housing supply across all tenures.

"Whatever the result of the general election on 8 June, the next government must maintain momentum on creating an industrial strategy to deliver greater productivity and economic growth, and on taking the right measures to deliver increased investment in housing of all tenures," she added.

Image by Lucian Milasan/Dreamstime

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Comments

  1. How many MPs actually responded so we can work out the 74% out x figure.

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