Commercial property developers Landsec and British Land have called for changes to the UK planning system to support brownfield urban regeneration.
They claim that such a ‘planning re-set’ would require neither new legislation nor significant public funding and would result in more growth, jobs, and homes in the UK.
Despite broad political agreement, development on brownfield land in key urban locations suffers from the shortcomings of the current system.
Successive changes to the planning system have increased complexity and the burden on planning authorities, while a focus on housebuilding on greenfield sites and a rigid planning framework detract from mixed use urban development.
To overcome this problem, Landsec and British Land have come up with a roadmap of proposed improvements.
According to them, brownfield urban regeneration sites should be defined as a separate planning category, with a focus on ‘quick wins’ to drive economic growth.
They argued for more effective resourcing of the planning system and reduction of complexity and duplication.
‘Proportionate decision-making’ needs to be encouraged, with planning decisions ‘taken at the level their impacts are felt.’
They also proposed tax incentives to encourage investment in infrastructure and remediation of brownfield land, which is often polluted.
In addition, they highlight the need to place communities at the heart of reshaping urban spaces and to recognise the bespoke nature and viability challenges of urban regeneration.
Simon Carter, CEO, British Land said: ‘There is political consensus in the need to prioritise urban regeneration over greenfield development. The ideas we are recommending today would help to drive our country's growth by rejuvenating our great cities and towns and can be put into place quickly and easily.’
Mark Allan, CEO at Landsec, added: ‘Urban, brownfield regeneration has the potential to unlock growth and prosperity for cities across the UK. However, the current planning system acts as a significant brake to this growth. We believe that by making some necessary but simple changes to the existing planning regime, we can unlock this opportunity - for the benefit of the UK, for the economy and importantly for the communities we build for.’
The property companies are behind some of the UK's most significant regeneration projects, including Landsec's 9.7-hectare Mayfield neighbourhood in central Manchester and British Land and AustralianSuper's 21.4-hectare Canada Water in London.
