Opinion

End the monopoly: Why the ARB is holding architecture back

By 2025-04-28T04:00:00

Ian Salisbury

Long-time ARB critic Ian Salisbury argues that the architects’ regulator has overstepped its role and needs to go

When Keir Starmer recently called out the UK’s bloated quango culture, he could have had the Architects Registration Board (ARB) in mind. Created in 1997 as the keeper of a statutory register, the ARB now claims to “protect the public” and maintain standards in the profession. But in reality, it is not effective at either and actively hinders the advancement of British architecture. It is high time the Architects Act was repealed, and with it, the ARB abolished.

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