The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) welcomes the opportunity to respond to the consultation on the UK’s recent trade deals with India, the US, and the EU.

The UK architecture sector is world-renowned and a global success story. It serves as one of the most visible expressions of our country’s creativity and cultural significance. Architecture is also a cross-cutting sector, with relevance to construction, the creative industries and professional and business services. RIBA’s Business Benchmarking survey highlights that, in 2024, RIBA Chartered Practices generated £4 billion in revenue, while exports reached a record £934 million. The EU, the US, and India represent significant export opportunities for UK architectural services. At the same time, the UK faces a domestic shortage of architects, making it essential to attract international talent to help address skills gaps in the sector.

We were pleased that the Government’s recent Trade Strategy lists the US, India and Europe as key priority sectors and outlined that the Government will pursue and help to facilitate signing more Mutual Recognition Agreements (MRAs). MRAs reduce regulatory barriers between countries. Therefore, they could help to further grow the sector through services exports and help to attract top architecture talent to the UK.

 

Government should:

 

Question 1: Do the agreements represent a good deal for the UK?

 

UK-EU Summit agreement

We are pleased that in the UK-EU summit agreement they “have agreed to set up dedicated dialogues on short term business mobility and the recognition of professional qualifications.”

 

In the UK and across the EU, architecture is a regulated profession. You cannot call yourself an architect unless you meet the requirements set by the regulator. UK qualified architects must therefore currently satisfy the individual requirements of each member state should they wish to practise there (with the exception of Ireland, who we have an agreement with which recognises architecture qualifications). 

 

A lack of agreement with the rest of the EU creates additional costs and bureaucracy for architecture practices wishing to work in Europe. These issues are particularly pronounced for smaller practices, which are less able to bear the additional costs and administrative burdens to overcome these barriers. At present, the propensity to export in the architecture sector varies greatly by size. If we want to help practices export more and grow their business, MRAs are one way to help.

 

There are also skills shortages in the UK architecture sector which could be filled by EU architects. Despite the Architects Registration Board (ARB) continuing to recognise many EU architecture qualifications, we are still seeing a decline in the number of EU architects in the UK. Previously, the EU served as an important source of talent for UK practices, with EU architects comprising 20% of the UK’s architectural workforce. Since the Brexit referendum, there has been a decline in registrations from EU architects, with only 16% of the UK Register holding EU qualifications.  

We are also attracting less young talent. UK architecture courses are world-renowned; the UK is home to some of the best universities for architecture in the world. But according to the Architects Journal, EU students on UK architecture courses halved in the first year after Brexit.

 

A Department for Culture, Media & Sport release found that 84.6% of hard-to-fill vacancies in architecture are due to skill shortages, making it one of the most skill-constrained sectors compared to the creative industries (74.2%) and all sectors (62.5%). In addition, RIBA’s Future Trends survey from February 2023 found that 46% of RIBA Chartered Practices indicated that the current UK-EU relationship has made it more challenging to recruit and retain architects from overseas.

 

Architects are key to delivering Government ambitions on housing, net zero and economic growth. But to do this we need to ensure a pipeline of talent. An MRA with the EU could help encourage more EU architects to come and work in the UK.

 

During the Brexit negotiations, the UK Government proposed maintaining the mutual recognition of professional qualifications between the UK and EU, but this was rejected by the EU. 

 

This was then taken forward for architecture separately, and in October 2022, a Joint Recommendation for a UK-EU MRA was submitted by ARB and ACE under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

 

The recommendation was acknowledged within the EU-UK TCA, however, the European Commission rejected the proposal. The Commission viewed the proposal as ‘prejudicial to EU architects’ as it would require EU-qualified architects to sit a professional examination in the UK, but UK-qualified architects in the EU would not. 

 

The professional examination referred to is part of the UK Adaptation Assessment (UKAA). The UKAA aims to make sure those registering through MRAs understand what is necessary for safe and effective practice in the UK. ARB surveyed architects across the EU and 74% responded that they sought out support or independent learning to adapt to UK practice, they suggest that this led to the development of the UKAA.

 

ARB recognise that the UKAA process can be “time consuming” and in early July 2025 announced changes to the assessment system following a consultation at the end of 2024. They have said that these changes will simplify the process and remove “unnecessary barriers” (for example, by introducing a simplified eligibility criteria and having one examination instead of two). The changes will come into effect in 2027 and we hope they will encourage the EU to renter negotiations. We also hope that this will make the UK more attractive for people coming from countries who already have MRAs agreed.

 

There is precedent for the EU to agree an MRA, with additional study included. The MRA between the EU and Canada for architects requires EU architects in Canada to undertake a one-off ten-hour course “to satisfy domain-specific knowledge requirements on building regulation, construction documents, contract administration and professional practice.” Canadian architects do not have to complete an equivalent course to work in the EU, but the agreement stipulates that the EU reserves the right to introduce one.

 

An MRA for architecture qualifications between the UK and EU should be prioritised.

 

India Free Trade Agreement

 

RIBA welcomes the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that was signed in with India in May. This will be beneficial and unlock opportunities for many sectors in both the UK and the Indian markets.

 

Under the FTA, a professional services annex has been agreed, where the UK and India will identify and encourage mutually interested relevant bodies in the UK and India to enter into negotiations on mutual agreements or arrangements for recognition of professional qualifications. We welcome this, and would be interested to work with the Government and ARB to explore this for the architecture sector. 

 

It is currently difficult for UK architects to work in India which is limiting opportunities to work in such a significant export market. The Architects Act 1972 requires any registrant to the Council of Architecture (COA) to be a citizen of and to reside in India. However, there are three ways for a British architect or firm to practice in India without registering to the COA:

 

The US-UK Prosperity Deal

 

The US-UK Prosperity Deal acknowledged MRAs already signed between the two countries across various sectors. This includes an MRA for architecture qualifications signed between regulators in the UK and US in 2023.

 

Going forward, the Government should support any changes necessary which could help increase the number of states signed up to the agreement. Currently, 40 states, three territories, and the District of Columbia are signed up to the agreement from the US side. We hope that more states and territories will sign up in future and Government should support work to encourage this.

 

Question 2: To what extent has the Government achieved its stated negotiating objectives?

 

In the Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto, they laid out their ambition to seek MRAs as a means to break “down unnecessary barriers to trade” and “help open up markets for UK service exporters” which we welcomed.

 

For the UK-EU summit deal, the Government aimed to “improve arrangements on mutual recognition of professional qualifications”. Whilst no concrete deals were signed, they have agreed to set up dialogues in future on this. So, while this is not yet fully achieved progress is being made.

 

Measures to encourage the recognition of professional qualifications was also an aim of the UK-India trade deal. Introducing the professional services annex is a tangible achievement.

 

Question 3: How should Parliament judge the success of these agreements over the coming years?

 

These agreements provide platforms to negotiate future partnerships, such as MRAs, and the signing of these will be a measure of success. Upon the signing of any MRA, further success will be judged by use of the MRA which can be measured by the number of UK architects registering abroad and the number of foreign architects coming to work in the UK. These changes would have economic benefits and also help to fill the skills gap in the UK.

 

Question 5: What is likely to be the impact of the agreements on:

a) the UK’s economy as a whole?

b) UK producers, including SMEs and key sectors

c) UK workers and consumers?

 

It could be beneficial for the UK economy and architecture practices if it was made easier for UK architects to work abroad and for foreign architects to work in the UK. Establishing an MRA is one way to streamline the process, potentially attracting more international talent to the UK. This will help UK practices employ more architects, fill the skills gap and help the Government deliver its 1.5 million homes target.

 

An MRA can also help architecture practices to export their services abroad by allowing their qualification to be recognised in the country that the MRA has been agreed. RIBA’s Business Benchmarking survey highlights that, in 2024, RIBA Chartered Practices generated £4 billion in revenue, while exports reached a record £934 million. Exporting architecture services is already a financially rewarding area but there is room to grow this further with easier market access.

 

For instance, India is among the fastest-growing major economies in the world. Simplifying the process for architects to export their services there could unlock significant financial opportunities for UK practices. India is the fourth largest economy in the world and will become the third largest by 2028. The Indian built environment sector is also the fourth largest in the world, valued at over £701 billion, it contributes 10% of India’s GDP, and is expected to be the third largest in the world by 2030. Therefore, improving the ability for architects to export to economies such as this will be likely be beneficial to architecture practices and the UK economy.

 

Question 7: How well has the Government communicated its progress in negotiations – and how much has it listened to stakeholders during those negotiations?

 

We have had positive engagement with the current and previous Governments on the need for an MRA for architecture to be signed between the UK and the EU. Both the UK and the EU have expressed interest in signing a deal and we hope they can do so.

 

We will continue to work with ARB, Architecture Council of Europe and the UK Government to secure an MRA for architecture.

 

Question 8: How should the Government best engage with stakeholders to implement the UK-India FTA to maximise its potential?

 

Government should launch roundtables with key sectors, such as built environment and architecture. They should engage both architecture registration organisations and encourage discussions on and MRA.

 

The UK-India Creative Circle (UKICC) has recently been established with the support of the Department of Business and Trade. The main goal of the UKICC is to drive business and collaboration between the countries. We welcome this initiative and were very happy to meet with the UKICC recently. We hope that RIBA can be involved in future discussions.

 

Under the UK-India FTA, a Professional Services annex has been agreed. The annex will establish a Professional Services Working Group, which will create a dedicated forum for UK and Indian government officials to review and monitor its implementation. It will support relevant bodies in pursuing agreements between regulators and exchange information on issues relating to professional services. RIBA would like to be involved in this as well.

 

August 2025