Creative Land Trust visits UKREiiF 2025

June 26, 2025

“It was pleasing to see panel discussions on how to unlock value in cities and towns through cultural spaces.”

Leeds was host to this year’s UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiif), attracting thousands from all aspects of the property sector to meet, convene and discuss major trends impacting property decisions across the UK.

For anyone working in the arts sector, it was pleasing to see dedicated panel discussions on how to unlock value in cities and towns through cultural spaces, with a panel including Arts Council England, Related Argent, Local Authority and Cultural institutions. Taking a long term view is key not only to stability for artists and makers, but also for developers seeking to understand the contribution of these spaces, which increase dwell in new spaces and foster community.

There was a prevailing theme of reinvigorating vacant historic assets, and the launch of Historic England’s Heritage Investment Prospectus was standing room only.

Gemma Dean, our Head of Development, was pleased to present as part of a West London Alliance initiative to discuss the importance of the creative economy and affordable workspace for inward investment.

In listening to discussions on social value and sustainability throughout the events, it’s evident that creative and cultural spaces have a lot to offer in terms of supporting circular economy, connecting communities and bringing mixed use developments and heritage assets to life. The importance now is bringing this into action through policy and long term developments, and creating more opportunities to present cases studies on how this is delivered across the UK.