COMMENT I’ve spent a decade finding compelling stories in real estate, gathering them to sell a specific asset, location or service. More recently, the loudest call for narrative – or more specifically narrative change – is sounding from our industry.
Town centres are critical to people’s lives and life outcomes across the UK. They need urgent regeneration that can only be achieved with joined-up action from the property sector and local and national government. We need business rates reform, intervention, creativity, investment and even subsidy. However, to achieve this we first need political support, trust in the property industry and public trust that property investors will deliver for them and not just for their own profit.
Sadly, this is all missing.
According to a YouGov poll in 2019, less than 2% of the public trust developers.
Property as a force for good
So, how can the property industry support the community and be a force for good? I visited the Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, owned by Sefton Council and managed by Ellandi, to meet people who lead social enterprises that operate in the centre to address the town’s challenges.
Literacy rates are among the lowest in the UK in Bootle. Local organisation Y Kids has created an incredible library space, where children can engage with reading in a creative environment. Their annual summer event hosts 4,000 children and family members over the course of 10 days. Darran Draper, deputy chief executive, explained that the Strand offers a perfect location for children to visit and take part in free activities. Many of these children are from low-income families and won’t get the opportunity of a holiday this year.
Another organisation, Merseyside Expanding Horizons, has created The Big Onion, a business, employment and skills incubator space that includes 20 starter units for new local retail and creative businesses alongside a wide range of support and community space. Its aim is to encourage local entrepreneurship, creating future employers and wealth generators for the town. Since opening in April 2021, it has helped more than 480, including young people with employment support, and over 100 of these into full-time employment.
For Liver Care and Housing, a charitable organisation promoting independent living, having an accessible setting within the town centre is key to reaching people that need its help, as well as generating funds through donation sales. Ray Elder, former social care worker and chief executive, tells me that the store allows the organisation to reach people who have often fallen through the gaps of stretched mental healthcare and substance abuse services. Regulars visit the store frequently; for many coping with loneliness and mental health issues, it offers a community and a chance for friendly interaction.
Power to the people
Among all of the people to whom I spoke, there was a consistent theme. Their activities have a huge impact and through creating community groups they generate empowerment, pride and confidence. Working within the community on a daily basis, all felt that Bootle’s greatest asset is its people.
It’s impossible not to feel inspired by these community groups. They recognise the problems caused by imperfect social, employment and education systems, sometimes over a period of decades. Responsibility to fix these problems doesn’t rest with their communities but the power to do so does.
Their stories wouldn’t typically appear in EG. On the face of it, they have nothing to do with property or property investment. Yet, they should. Our town centres are about people, how as an industry we create space that builds communities and meets social needs. There is space in every town, in every shopping centre, for energetic social enterprises trading alongside retailers and service providers, creating a vibrant local tapestry of mutually supportive uses that resonate with their communities.
After a decade of exposure to real estate I’ve discovered the most compelling arguments for change I’ve ever encountered, from people with little or no real estate experience.
The people I met at Bootle are invested in their town centre space on an entirely different level. Our investment as a property industry should be to support these enterprises and their counterparts across other towns, to deliver the modern, vibrant communities that the UK needs to thrive.
Jo Locke is marketing, content and bid manager at Ellandi
