The impact of flooding on the value of residential property in the UK

Flooding of residential property is a real and growing phenomenon in the UK causing short and long-term detriment of various kinds to its victims. The issue of potential decrease in value of those properties which are located on the floodplain, though much discussed in the media, has received scant attention in the UK research literature. An extensive literature survey has revealed a need for methodological innovation in the field of temporal impact of flooding and the inadequacy of the current paradigms for inclusion of insurance into flood modelling. A wide-ranging review of data sources, including discussion with industry experts, has identified the requirement to generate primary data on the availability and cost of flood insurance. A novel framework has been developed for this research. This framework is an extension of the recent research in flood modelling and incorporates ideas from the wider house price analysis literature. Data collected via a questionnaire survey of householders has been combined with secondary data on property prices and flood designation in order to attribute any loss in property value to the correct vector of underlying flood status. The output from this study makes a contribution to the understanding of the impact of flooding on house prices, allowing for better valuation advice. Empirical findings are that the understandable concerns of residential property owners at risk of flooding regarding long term loss of property value are largely unfounded. Price discounts are observed for some recently flooded areas but they are temporary Improved appreciation of the impact of claims and flood risk on the cost of insurance has also emerged. The insurance market was not found to be instrumental in reducing the price of property. The output from the study also makes a methodological contribution in extending concepts relating to the relationship between flooding, insurance and house prices. This development is anticipated to facilitate refinement and updating of the empirical findings with reduced effort in the light of future events.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The Political Economy of Sub-Saharan Africa Land Policies

The quest for African poverty alleviation has become a global issue and governments of rich nations have registered their commitment to the task both through the Millennium Development Goals and other international programs. While poverty is endemic in Africa, extant policies that continue to dictate proceedings in the land sectors of most African nations have been constructed in a way that concentrate benefits and wealth on a few while spreading costs and poverty on a larger segment of the African population. These policies which continue to impose greater restrictions on poverty alleviation have emanated from the peculiar political and economic history of Africa. An understanding of how these political events continue to shape the performance of land markets in these countries within the context of contemporary economic learning is thus key to understanding the policy directions required for success. This paper thus employs public policy and transaction costs insights to explicate the historical political events that have led to the promulgation of such policies together with a conceptual view of their social cost implications

Traditional Landholding Institutions and Individual Ownership of Land Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa

As first level suppliers, land is vested in indigenous corporate bodies like clans/families, tribes and chiefs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The corporate bodies are called traditional landholding institutions. This socio-political arrangement of landownership has, however, been described as communal landholding which does not permit individual ownership of land rights and this, it is argued, impedes economic development. This paper critically examines the customary land tenure systems and concludes that they are composite with communal as well as individual landownership akin to what obtains in England. Traditional landownership systems in SSA do not appear to constrain individual ownership of land rights. (InderScience Publishers

Measuring the impact of flooding on UK house prices: A new framework for small sample problems

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to show how the measurement of the effect of flooding on house value can be invaluable information for professional valuers and homeowners alike. In the UK, even for an event as devastating as the autumn 2000 flood, the number of properties affected in any one town is small and so robust estimation is problematic and methodology applied elsewhere needs modification. A new framework for analysing the effect of flooding on house value in the UK is presented. Design/methodology/approach - Data issues play a crucial role in determining the methodology employed in any analysis. A repeat sales methodology is proposed which allows for the tracking of effects through time. The analysis can be extended to multiple sites via a block design thereby increasing the sample size. Findings - Empirical analysis of one case study site demonstrates the inherent small sample problem and yet reveals patterns that fall in line with expected outcomes in many respects. Research limitations/implications - The case study results are illustrative only. A programme of further analysis is planned which includes comparison of the new framework with more traditional approaches. Originality/value - A novel methodology is developed tracking the temporal variability in flood effect. The minimisation of data requirements inherent in the model allows for transfer to multiple sites and easy updating of the analysis

The impact of flood insurance on residential property prices: Towards a new theoretical framework for the United Kingdom market

The supposition that the availability and cost of insurance will have an effect on house prices is often accepted as fact. However the mechanism for this supposed impact has not been clearly articulated and the hypothesis is far from proven in the UK market. Measurement of the effect of insurance is complicated by the fact that the parties are acting in the presence of incomplete information and that insurance costs can act as a proxy for other value drivers such as flood risk. Models useful in other countries cannot be applied sensibly to the UK market because of the unique properties of the UK insurance regime. Novel hypotheses are suggested for the three principal ways in which the availability and cost of insurance might influence the prospective property transfer. A method for testing one of these hypotheses is proposed using a quasi-experimental approach with the aim of determining whether a relationship between insurance cost and house price does indeed exist. © 2007, Emerald Group Publishing Limite

An Economic Assessment of the Institution of Land Use Planning in the Cities of Sub-Saharan Africa

The institutions of land use planning in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa have come of age. For more than 40 years, the received colonial town planning laws and associated regulations have guided urban land development processes in the region. In spite of the problems of ‘illegal’ developments and delays in the procedures for obtaining land and development rights, no economic assessment of the system of land use planning in Africa seems to have been attempted. This paper analyses the impact of land use planning on urban development and examines the incentive structure of the political market of planning in the cities of sub-Saharan Africa. The objective is to identify the institutional weakness of land use planning in the region. The paper concludes that it would appear the system of land use planning in sub-Saharan Africa operates in such a way that allows the externalisation of costs onto those actors of the society whose interests are not sufficiently represented within the land use planning system. (RICS

Compulsory Land Acquisition in Ghana - Policy and Praxis

Co-author Dr. Larbi was seconded as a Visiting Research Fellow from the Ministry of Lands and Forestry in Ghana and co-author Dr. Antwi was subsequently recruited by the DFID and the Government of Ghana to play a leading role in a £3M DFID project examining land holding titles by Ghanaian Chiefs.Compulsory land acquisition powers have been used extensively in Ghana since colonial times, as the main means of the state's access to land for development. The underlying principle is supremacy of the state over people and their private property, and is aimed at providing land for public and social amenities, correcting economic and social inefficiencies in private market operations and providing greater equity and social justice in the distribution of land. The paper analyses compulsory acquisition practice in Ghana in the light of these principles. It argues that few of the presumed principles have been met. Rather compulsory land acquisition has resulted in adverse socio-economic consequences including in landlessness, poverty and heightened tension in state-community relationship. The paper advocates for a new legal and institutional environment for employing compulsory acquisition powers

Land valorisation processes and state intervention in land management in peri-urban Accra, Ghana

There is a continuous debate as to whether indigenous land tenure systems in sub-Saharan Africa can support market-based decisions. Whether or not this is the case is crucial to the quest for appropriate institutional frameworks to harness the potential of the real estate sector. This paper, using evidence from Accra, Ghana, argues that well-defined markets in land exist where property rights are traded within the indigenous system of land ownership. Furthermore, such markets perform better in terms of land delivery and pricing than the market for state-owned lands, and are responsive to the land needs of all segments of the population. The paper further argues that state intervention, which is intended to redefine property rights within a dual ownership-regulation framework and set unattainable standards for land use planning and development, distorts the indigenous market. This makes actors operate in an extra-legal context. Recommended policy reforms include a redefinition of formal property rights to effectively incorporate indigenous rights and the lowering of planning and building standards