The implications of the Urban White Paper for physical regeneration in England

There is strong evidence of Government commitment to urban renewal in the Urban White Paper and we have very much welcomed much that is in it. It demonstrates a recognition that successful regeneration depends on a stable economy, a progressive tax and benefit system, high quality education and healthcare as well as encouragement for enterprise and competitiveness. All of this must be backed up by physical change on the ground. There needs to be a greater recognition of the importance of physical regeneration to socio-economic centred regeneration activity. A great deal of progress has been made, but below is a summary of measures that we would like to see to build on this. These points are amplified in the attached paper

Opportunity knocks for the new breed of Enterpise Zones

Enterprise Zones were first introduced in the U.K. in 1980 and their influence, and the distortion they create in local property markets, is well recognised and long?lived. There is a wealth of literature both from the U.K. and U.S.A. about their strengths (encouraging capital investment in locations that might otherwise receive little attention) and weaknesses (occupier displacement and poor value for money to name a couple). Scrutinising the Enterprise Zone Prospectus (CLG 2011) published shortly after the Chancellor announced the Government’s intention to introduce up to 21 new EZs in England, it is evident that there is some cognisance amongst policy makers of the flaws and side?effects of the old model. This article reviews the new proposals and offers comparison with the ‘old style’ EZs

HIGH STREET PROSPECTS Bounce back or recalibrate? A reflection on the prospect for UK high streets and town centres to find a new future in a post COVID-19 world

This article represents the third in series of articles by R3intelligence academics and researchers in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, at Northumbria University, about analysing town and city centre retail markets using GIS and big data. The article was written during a period of enforced Coronavirus (CV-19) self-isolation during which the author had the opportunity of revisit literature on the challenges facing our high streets and town centres, to provide a contemporary perspective of collective knowledge and understanding on the current plight and future prospects of the UK high street post CV-19

Developing an indicator of property market resilience - investigating the potential of GIS to analyse business occupier displacement and property market filtering: a case study of Tyne and Wear

The research investigates the potential of a geographical information system to analyse the recorded displacement of office and industrial occupiers in Tyne and Wear, England. The paper demonstrates that a GIS provides an effective tool with which to illustrate, analyse and model occupier displacement and market filtering. The research goes on to develop and test an indicator with which to identify urban areas that may be most vulnerable to property occupier displacement. The correlation of rateable value and VAT registration datasets, with the origin of occupiers of new office and industrial developments and the location of vacant chain-end property, was tested. The strongest correlation is with new VAT registrations within a three-year period. A property market resilience indicator is developed, with which to classify urban areas in terms of their resilience or vulnerability to business occupier displacement generated by commercial property developmen

How did we come to this? Review of the funding crisis affecting further education college development in England

A review of progress on the Further Education building programme, identifying the main focus of the college developments in relation to regeneration and planning and the conditions that may have contributed to the funding crisis. A thorough literature review was undertaken, and a database compiled, containing information on college developments. Four themes were identified as most relevant to the Built Environment: funding of new college buildings; consolidation on one site and anchoring of regeneration projects; project procurement and delivery, and environmentally sustainable buildings. Four case study examples of colleges have been selected: Middlesbrough, Gateshead, Luton and Sussex Coast College Hastings, all examples of large college projects with a national spread

The future of public sector funding of regeneration project in England

This report describes the policy framework through which urban regeneration is promoted and highlights the difficulties encountered in co-ordinating the current public funding initiatives to secure effective urban regeneration and maximise value for money

Mechanisms of urban change: Regeneration companies or development corporations?

This article is an early assessment of the role and performance of URCs, benchmarked against the UDC model. It identified weaknesses and vulnerability of URCs in relation to control over land

An investigation of development appraisal methods employed by valuers and appraisers in small and medium sized practices in Brazil

Purpose – Whilst the real estate development appraisal practices of large national and international real estate companies are well understood, relatively little is known about how development appraisals are conducted by indigenous appraisers and valuers in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how development appraisal is conducted in Brazil, compared to the UK, focusing primarily on the methods employed by small- and medium-sized real estate practices and their appraisers to appraise the viability of commercial real estate developments in the State of Sao Paulo. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a two phase Delphi Method to capture and analyse empirical data from small- and medium-sized real estate appraisers in Brazil. Using the long established and relatively transparent UK Residual Method of development appraisal as a template against which to compare Brazilian appraisal methods, guidance and practice. To understand how indigenous development appraisers operate the Brazilian development appraisal methods, the research was conducted in Portuguese by a bi-lingual real estate expert who was familiar with both UK and Brazilian practice. Findings – The research establishes that appraisers working for small- and medium -sized real estate practices in Brazil rarely use the Residual Method. Instead, they employ a range of methods, the choice of which is heavily influenced by the availability of comparable market data, with Direct Comparison of market data and the Capitalisation of Income being the methods of choice when sufficient comparable evidence is available. Appraisers rarely employ the Residual Method as the principal development appraisal technique, using instead the Comparative Method and Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis. Land prices are usually agreed or already known and developer’s profit is usually determined using DCF analysis and is highly sensitive to fluctuations in construction costs. Research limitations/implications – The research engaged with a small number of appraisers and valuers in small- and medium-sized practices in the State of Sao Paulo using a two-phase Delphi Method. The long established UK Residual Method of development appraisal was used as a template against which to compare practice in Sao Paulo State. There is potential therefore to replicate the research in other Brazilian States and transfer the methodology to other developing countries. Practical implications – In Brazil, when development land in urban areas is acquired on the basis of plot exchange, land is often sold at less than market value and the original landowner retains an equity stake in the development and shares in the development overage. The practice of “permuta física”, giving landowners the freehold of part of the development, or “permuta financeira”, whereby the landowner receives an enhanced land price, indexed against development value, is of potential relevance to the UK and other developed countries that need help in urban unlocking land markets