RDAs strive to keep up the renewal drive

Regeneration & Renewal, 5 September 2008

To maintain momentum on the country's most important regeneration schemes, the Government is going to give them money previously earmarked for other projects that it now considers less of a priority.

But what sort of spending is required to keep critical developments on track in current market conditions? By coincidence, this was an issue I was discussing last week with several regional development agency property chiefs, unaware of the impending announcement about funding changes (it may well be that they were unaware of them too, given the RDAs' surprised reaction to some of the changes this week). Their answers give some insights into how the additional funding for key projects might be spent.

Yorkshire Forward environment director Jan Anderson says that the agency is aiming to reduce the risk to developers of becoming involved in its schemes. "We are having almost daily discussions with investors and developers about how to structure deals to do this," she says.

Among the options they are prepared to consider is delaying the dates on which payments from the developer to the agency become due, or taking an equity stake in the scheme in lieu of payment. Similarly, Anderson says that it is "not beyond the realms of possibility" for the RDA to share the cost of submitting a planning application for a scheme in return for a share in the profit at the end of the process.

One North-East is also prepared to put extra investment into its key schemes to ensure that development remains viable. Neil Graham, the RDA's acting head of regeneration, says that the agency will consider funding extra site investigations, planning work and infrastructure provision. "We want to take as many risks out of the sites as possible to make things a little easier for the private sector," he says.

North-West Regional Development Agency (NWDA) development director Peter White believes his team has a role to play in managing other public bodies' expectations of what can be achieved in terms of time-scales and planning gain in the current climate. "We try to bring a bit more realism into the schemes," he says.

Both White and Anderson also believe that their agencies can reduce risks for potential developer partners by picking up key parcels of land at cheap prices. "These times offer more opportunities than usual to acquire sites," says Anderson. She is looking particularly closely at plots that would help to complete the jigsaws of land needed to allow the agency's key masterplans to be realised.

The NWDA has also recently spotted openings created by current market conditions. "A scheme that one local authority has been thinking about for some time has become attainable because the site has unexpectedly become available," says White. The agency is talking to the council about providing funding to buy the land, he says, and is having similar conversations with other local authorities faced with comparable opportunities.

- Anderson will be speaking alongside NWDA head of development Paul Lakin in the Developers and Investors Forum at the Northern Regeneration Summit & Exhibition, which is sponsored by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and takes place at Manchester Central on 22-23 October. The forum is sponsored by Central Salford. The Summit & Exhibition is organised by Regeneration & Renewal, and the supporting sponsors are Barton Willmore and the North-West Regional Development Agency. Last year, the event attracted more than 1,500 visitors. For more information, visit www.northernregeneration.com.