Britain’s sluggish economy is being held back by its inability to build, according to a new survey of more than 100 economists and policy experts conducted by the Centre for British Progress.

The 2025 UK Growth Survey found overwhelming consensus that the Government’s top priority should be to “build, build, build” – with planning reform and infrastructure investment emerging as the cheapest and most effective routes to boosting growth.

Respondents identified the UK’s restrictive planning system as the single biggest drag on productivity, limiting everything from new housing in London to energy projects in Wales and transport links in northern cities.

A TALE OF TWO COUNTRIES

The report describes Britain as “a tale of two countries”, where London and the South East are constrained by housing shortages while the rest of the UK suffers from weak transport, high energy costs and chronic underinvestment.

The authors argue that allowing more building in the South would free up resources for investment elsewhere.

Energy was another major concern. Economists warned that Britain’s electricity costs – among the highest in the world – are undermining household incomes, deterring manufacturing investment and threatening the UK’s competitiveness in AI.

Although most respondents supported expanding nuclear power and North Sea exploration, they conceded that energy bills were unlikely to fall soon.

On fiscal policy, the report concludes that “constraints are real but not insurmountable”.

Most respondents opposed major increases in state spending and instead backed raising revenue through reforms to property taxation and fuel duties.

“Many called for the abolition of stamp duty in favour of a proportional property tax.”

Many called for the abolition of stamp duty in favour of a proportional property tax, and for changes to remove “cliff-edge” incentives such as the £100,000 income threshold.

Despite pessimism about short-term prospects, respondents saw “free lunches” in policy reforms requiring little public money – from attracting high-skilled migrants and improving state decision-making capacity to devolving powers for local transport.

Above all, they urged the Government to accelerate planning reform, describing it as the fastest route to unlocking private investment and productivity growth.

“The UK’s growth potential is enormous,” the report concludes. “If our economy is being held back by our own regulatory morass rather than by fundamental weaknesses, there is nothing stopping us from fixing it.”

*The UK Growth Survey 2025 was conducted by the Centre for British Progress between 1–31 August, polling economists, researchers and policymakers across academia, business and government.