OPINION: “A comprehensive urban policy or a reinvention of old ideas?”

Written by Paul Clement

Several recent government announcements will influence town and city centres if they follow through to final legislation. We are reminded that what appear to be ‘new’ policies are all too often old policies with some of the dust blown off.

For decades, urban centres have been either in a state of ‘crisis’ themselves or have been the primary locations in which national and global crises have been played out. From the oil crisis of the 1970s to the financial crisis of the late 2000s and on to the post-covid crisis of today.......and on we go. This period does feel a bit different though; perhaps more deeply structural, resulting less from changes to business models and more because of changes to consumer habits?

Vacancy rates, particularly amongst retail units, are high and more hybrid working patterns are likely to mean some employers will also revisit their office requirements. Many buildings are owned by remote, sometimes offshore, property companies, meaning that it is difficult for the government to find a way to fill empty units. The plan is to force landlords to fill (or even to sell) empty units after a short period and, to manage this, for local authorities to be obliged to maintain a register of owners. In fact, this was muted as far back as the Portas Review in 2011 when it was intended for opening the way for property owner BIDs to expand beyond central London. Whilst this would still be welcome, I do think that we need to stop short of thinking that vacancies today result from nasty landlords holding out for more rent. The evidence does not support such a claim.

With redundant space increasing in central areas, a focus has become increasing the number of people living and more flexibly working there. People bring with them new employment opportunities and extra spend; but they also demand different things such as health and wellbeing uses like doctors, dentists, gyms, green spaces, cycle lanes and allotments. Partly in response to Thatcher’s right to buy council housing scheme of the 1980s, the need for social housing content within major planning applications became the norm. In another reminder of ‘what goes around, comes around’, the current government is reported to be considering making a grant to a local authority to build new council housing as an alternative to including social housing, together with a post-Thatcheresque right to buy social housing scheme. Fears persist that the separation of social housing from major developments will increase gentrification whilst the possible sale of any such housing without adequate resources to replace it will lead to further marginalisation.

We would all agree that our town and city centres need to change rapidly. As with most administrations since the 1970s, the current government is trying to identify ways in which it can give a clear direction to the market and to enable local leadership to develop whilst keeping its own direct interventions to a minimum. For my part, I’m not convinced that this rather uncoordinated smattering of schemes - largely a reformatting of old ideas which result in more questions than answers – will lead to the desired transformation on the scale required.

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