The Regeneration Commission set up by Estates Gazette and UK Regeneration is to work with government to unlock stalled schemes across the country.
The commission, part of EG’s Building a Better Britain campaign, met last week to draw up an action plan designed to bring together private sector money and public sector assets to deliver targeted urban renewal. A blueprint for Building a Better Britain will be formally presented at the EG/UKR conference on December 6 in London.
Six-point plan of action
1 Making the case
Recent debates, particularly on proposed changes to planning, illustrate that development is not seen as a source of local economic benefit. To address this, commission members’ companies will collaborate to prepare a “key benefits” statement by January 2012.
2 Freedom for all
Planning and other regulatory processes add costs and remain a substantial constraint on the speed of development. The government has offered a framework for local authorities to simplify the process in defined areas and is willing to “bust barriers”. This approach needs to be tested. Commission members will identify candidate areas and collaborate with relevant local authorities to create “free zones”.
3 Getting restarted
Current schemes have been stalled by a combination of three factors: availability of funding; withdrawal of grant or other public funding; and a change in fundamental viability, including the impact of local tax and levies. Members propose that the industry collectively identifes 25 to 30 stalled schemes and conducts short, sharp reviews of the key factors in each scheme that inhibit progress. At least one scheme in each region will be supported with reviews completed by March.
4 Making local money go round
There is much less scope for local sources of savings and investment to be applied to schemes supporting local companies and local economic growth. Proposals for new, simple mechanisms to strengthen and make transparent such local linkages will be prepared by representatives of major banks and investment institutions by March.
5 Showing the way
It is not all doom and gloom. Activity continues as developers and local authorities tackle the new environment and bring forward development, often in bite-sized chunks. EG will publish case studies of examples where progress has been made over the past three years.
6 Generating social capital
The idea of “environmental sustainability” is increasingly accepted by all sides of the market, yet there is no measure of “social sustainability”. A small group of developers with Business in the Community will prepare a discussion document by January.
More on our Building a Better Britain campaign and the EG/UKR conference on 6 December.
