Alan Disberry

Ownership Constraints to Brownfield Redevelopment

The authors examine the nature and significance of ownership constraints within the urban redevelopment process. They suggest that such constraints derive from the distinctiveness of land as a commodity, the imperfect nature of the land market, the behavioural characteristics of landowners, and the institutional context for land ownership, exchange, and development. From this, they propose a common definition of ownership constraints as a basis for their practical classification. This divides ownership constraints between those that concern deficiencies in, or limitations to, the extent of ownership rights in potential development land and those that relate specifically to the strategies, interests, and actions of those who hold such rights. The various types of ownership constraints that fall under these headings are then explored, with research presented into the extent to which they each disrupted plans to use, market, develop, or purchase eighty large redevelopment sites in four British cities between 1991 and 1995.

Managing Urban Land: The Case for Urban Partnership Zones

Multiple ownership of land can act as a significant barrier to brownfield redevelopment. Despite renewed interest in compulsory purchase, it is unlikely to become the normal remedy for multiple ownership, owing to its cost and complexity. Drawing on international experience and recent research, this article proposes the concept of an Urban Partnership Zone, in which existing landowners would be entitled to participate alongside the local authority and a chosen development partner in a joint-venture redevelopment company. Combined with greater planning certainty and other benefits, this innovation would enable the development process to operate more rapidly without immediate compulsory purchase.

Retail Location, Competition and Urban Redevelopment

After rapid growth in off-centre retailing in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the UK Government is now determined to concentrate future retailing within urban areas and, wherever possible, close to existing town and city centres. By their very nature, however, major retail developments are extensive users of land. This makes suitable sites hard to acquire within cities, especially as large urban sites normally have to be assembled from several ownerships, while those of the periphery can often be purchased from a single owner. Within this context, this article examines how the availability of large redevelopment sites for future retailing within or close to the centres of four British cities was significantly constrained by multiple land ownership. It contends that, while tighter planning restrictions on retail development in off-centre locations may well be effective in thwarting development considered unacceptable in policy terms, such restrictions by themselves will not serve to re-direct retail development pressure to central areas, unless multiple land ownership can be readily resolved. Without such action, retail planning policy will increasingly frustrate retail competition and ultimately to become self-defeating.

Taxes, subsidies and the behaviour of brownfield owners

Abstract This paper addresses two key research questions. First, how effective are fiscal measures in stimulating brownfield land regeneration? Second, what is the most effective fiscal measure: taxes or subsidies? The paper considers the results of a three-year study of land ownership constraints which was funded by the ESRC and completed in 1998. The research considered 20 development sites in each of four UK cities; Nottingham, Stoke, Aberdeen and Dundee. In the course of the study, 140 landowners were interviewed in order to ascertain their strategies, interests and actions in the development process. Detailed contextual interviews were also held with 36 organisations with valuable experience of planning and development at national or local level. The research revealed that brownfield redevelopment is increasingly driven by the availability of development grants and subsidies. The development prospects of 21 of the 80 research sites hinged on the availability of such development grants or subsidies. The paper considers a number of fiscal alternatives and concludes that both grants and fiscal penalties may be appropriate but that urban regeneration policy needs to be sufficiently fine grained to reflect differences in demand between localities.

Land Policy and Urban Renaissance: The Impact of Ownership Constraints in Four British Cities

This article explores the potential contribution of four types of land policy to delivering an urban renaissance. These four types are regulatory, financial and developmental land policy measures and the provision of information and guidance for the land market. Although such measures are implicit rather than explicit in recent visions of urban renaissance, the article reveals that between 1991 and 1995, ownership constraints disrupted plans to use, market, develop or purchase 64 of 80 large redevelopment sites investigated. Such constraints need to be the target of a specific urban land policy and not the by-product of broader urban renaissance policies.

Still vacant after all these years – Evaluating the efficiency of property-led urban regeneration

Property developers and investors have been at the forefront of urban regeneration in the UK since the 1980s. This has produced an emphasis on prime office space, luxury apartments, shopping centres and leisure attractions, which has been widely criticised on social equity grounds. There has, however, been only limited interrogation of the failure of property-led regeneration to deliver on the development it promises or on whether it represents good value for public money. Nottingham Eastside is one such example of policy and market failure, where for over a quarter of a century, property developers and investors have come and gone, none of four masterplans have been implemented, decontamination and infrastructure provision has never been completed, and most of the land is still vacant. By reconstructing the story of Nottingham Eastside, the paper argues that over-reliance on property-led regeneration can be highly inefficient, let alone inequitable, as a means to achieve strategic urban redevelopment.

Market forces or institutional factors: what hinders housing development on brownfield land?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the barriers to housing development on brownfield land in the UK, making clear the distinction between market and institutional factors and identify appropriate public and private sector solutions to encourage more residential development. Design/methodology/approach – In this research, the city of Nottingham in the East Midlands of England was chosen as the case study city. The research was based on secondary literature review of relevant local authority reports, Internet searches, consultancy documents and policy literature. Detailed case studies were undertaken of 30 sites in Nottingham which included a questionnaire survey of developers. Officials from Nottingham City Council assisted with the gathering of planning histories of the sites. The investigation took place in 2014. Findings – Based on the evidence from Nottingham, the most frequently occurring significant constraint was poor market conditions. At the local level, it is clear that there ar...