Regeneration is about more than bricks and mortar — it’s breathing life into communities, creating opportunities and shaping the future of our towns and cities. With the UK facing a chronic undersupply of housing and town centres suffering from closures, regeneration offers a compelling solution — reviving underused brownfield sites, unlocking growth and creating sustainable places that are fit for the future.
Here, our Head of Real Estate Iain Gamble explores the economic case for regeneration and outlines three key areas that can help to get deals done and accelerate progress.
The economic case for regeneration
There’s a strong economic case for regeneration. The Centre for Cities revealed that on average, every £1 invested by the public sector in regeneration leads to £5 of private investment. Public investment can remove barriers to the viability of developments that arise from market conditions or site conditions on under-used brownfield land.
Meanwhile, research by Development Economics suggests that unlocking brownfield urban regeneration could deliver over a million new jobs and 1.3m new homes by 2035. The Government has made housing a key priority, vowing to deliver 1.5m homes in five years.
While a challenging target, it’s clear that constructing residential buildings and homes is a key growth driver that won’t just create more jobs in the construction industry but also attract businesses to relocate or open in newly regenerated urban spaces, creating more jobs in the surrounding areas.
However, regeneration isn’t all about the economic picture. When delivered in the right way, it can also improve social outcomes and provide greater access to healthcare, education and better standards of living. In short, it can transform neglected areas into places where vibrant communities can thrive and people are proud to live.
The obstacles to regeneration projects
While regeneration has the potential to unlock prosperity for the whole of the UK, individual projects are rarely easy to deliver. Considerable obstacles get in the way of delivering on opportunities — from construction cost inflation and viability issues to evolving statutory requirements, planning complexities and labour and skills shortages. Geography also plays a role, since it’s traditionally even more difficult to attract investment to less affluent or more deprived regions across the UK when compared to more ‘established’ city regions.
Of course, many of these obstacles are outside the direct control of the developers, funders and public authorities seeking to drive regeneration in their local areas. Developers and stakeholders are therefore left needing to maximise every opportunity to make regeneration projects happen, where they have the influence and ability to do so. That means they need the right partners, including a trusted legal partner that can cut through complexity and drive things forward. This requires more than just legal expertise — it takes pace, precision and purpose.
The time is now
The time for regeneration to become a key driver of UK economic success is now. We look forward to being a part of making that happen.
Find out more about how we make places work.
Get in touch with the team at regeneration@brabners.com, call us on 0333 004 4488 or complete our contact form below.