British Property Federation – Regeneration Manifesto
The British Property Federation has issued a Regeneration Manifesto calling for measures to kick start the British building industry following the economic slowdown.
The five suggestions in the report are:
- Pay for infrastructure by using the American TIF model
- Expand equity sharing – encouraging councils to donate land to make development viable
- Use funding for school and hospital building to lever in more investment
- Reform EU red tape which means councils waste time and money ticking boxes to appear ‘democratic’ when selecting a developer
- Encourage a professional rented housing sector
In particular the BPF are keen on introducing a financing model used widely across America called Tax Increment Financing. Essentially, bonds are issued by local Government to provide the financing for regeneration schemes. The bonds are underwritten by central Government against future revenue from business rates. The BPF is pushing the Government to introduce pilot TIF schemes in the UK to support regeneration schemes that would otherwise be financially unviable.
The BPF is also calling for Councils to consider new ways of working with developers to achieve regeneration. For example, they suggest that Councils consider providing free land in return for developers building out a scheme with both parties then sharing the long term profit that arises from it. Another suggestion is for Councils to clean up contaminated brownfield sites and then sell them on to developers for regeneration schemes to provide new homes, jobs and opportunities for the local community.
Another key concern raised by the BPF is the interpretation of the Roanne case which has caused significant delays to key regeneration projects across the UK. Where a development agreement is entered into by a public sector body without a formal financial tendering process having taken place, the case cast doubt on whether the development agreement was lawful. This led to many local authorities having to suspend schemes in order to go back and carry out a tender process in accordance with the EU procurement rules. The BPF has called for clear guidance from the Government on this point.
