The outcomes of sustainable neighbourhood regeneration (NR) practice, delivered by a range of NR organisations, have offered a lifeline of support in many disadvantaged communities. However, since dramatic ‘policy shift’ following the financial crisis and installation of the Conservative Liberal-Democrat Coalition Government in 2010, sustainable NR practice has faced a radically changing and far more challenging landscape under ‘austerity’, threatening NR organisations’ ability to deliver such practice, in a context where inequalities continue to deepen. This Critical Overview Document (the ‘thesis’) draws together a coherent body of inter-related research, published between 2009 and 2013, to identify and conceptualise organisational factors considered critical to sustainable NR practice in the English context, and how these have changed following dramatic policy shift. First, using existing literature and empirical research findings from a set of case study NR organisations, the thesis identifies and conceptualises these organisational factors, framing them within an ‘NR Factor Menu’. The empirical research is then drawn upon to characterise the process of dramatic policy shift and its impact on sustainable NR practice, manifest in how case study NR organisations are changing their operational activities. The thesis subsequently conceptualises these changes, representing them in a ‘post-policy shift’ NR Factor Menu. Representing a contribution to knowledge in this arena, this conceptualisation is then used to develop a better understanding of the broader role and nature of sustainable NR practice under ‘austerity’ and beyond, identifying the potential impacts of this for other NR organisations and communities. The conceptual explanation essentially identifies that dramatic policy shift has resulted in a ‘narrowing’ of those organisational factors critical to sustainable NR practice, brought about by a necessary focus on income generation and entrepreneurial activity. This has taken place through the development of new organisational factors – the ‘income generation engine’ and ‘organisational dynamism’. Such processes appear to have weakened community ownership of the NR process and, more broadly, reduced the importance of community advocacy and social mission in sustainable NR practice. This improved understanding informs policy and practice suggestions for other NR organisation strategies and further research
