Note: MHC stands for multi-family housing construction. Source: Seoul City Development Institute. 1999. 「Evaluation analysis and Alternatives to Residential Environment Improvement Project」.
Second, choice of redevelopment types is made without thorough consideration of physical characteristics. Multi-family housing construction method should be used in sites with relatively large number of small parcels,
68 low road ratio for the practical use of motor vehicle traffic, and high population density. In practice, the development results are vice versa as indicated in the empirical study (Park 2001).
Third, there is supposed to set up architectural guidelines and the REI Plan in the planning stage of the programme. Development of guidelines and the plan is one of most important elements, especially for the site improvement type, but they are delegated to the residents who have little knowledge of how to improve the site. Hence, they fail to develop the practical REI plan so that the site development stirred up development density increases by the architectural variance without proper guidance and deteriorated the quality of decent residential environment. In the end, it provides real estate developers a splendid chance for speculation and capital gains. In practice, REI sites would result in more problems for creating decent residential environment without essential measures such as preservation of public parking space and enlargement of road width
Fourth, preservation of parking facilities for proper place and size on individual basis is another major issue in addition to creation of public parking spaces. Because of differential application of the parking law by building size, owners and builders attempt to construct small building size of less than 300m2 floor area to avoid parking regulation. Especially, most multi-family houses are constructed in size of less than 60m2 for exclusive use to get building variance. In a sense, it makes parking problems worse than before.
Fifth, projects are stimulated through the transfer of state property to private ownership. Two problems are associated with this matter. One is that residents who want to have resale of the government land should pay penalties for illegal occupation and use of the land. Their financial ability to pay is quite less than what they have to do. The other is that the amount of publicly owned land is getting less and the converted land is no longer available for the public use. More important is that the sale satisfies only limited interest groups of the project and fails to contribute to the improvement of residential environment. It also makes the similar low-income households in the future live in the lower residential environment than before since the resale of government land does not contribute to the increase of amenities and living conditions. The disposal of government land is no more than a myopic solution.
Sixth, site designation of the REI programme is too simple to reflect physical site characteristics. In Japan, they take into account various aspects of physical characteristics such as number of substandard houses, ratio of substandard houses, housing density, environment of surround area, living environment aggravation factor. Using those indices, they are able to classify project types into several categories sustaining their physical characteristics and full acceptance of resident redevelopment opinions.
Finally, current REI programme is the only redevelopment technique for single-family housing units, but it fails to provide prototypes of the redevelopment model. Because of this, the ratio of site improvement type in the completed REI sites is similar to that of the multi-family housing
70 construction type even though the former figure in total REI sites is quite higher than that of the latter. In sites of the site improvement type, only developable parcels and surrounding parcels of the site with good accessibility are developed.
Future directions of REI projects depend on the main interests of bodies involved in the redevelopment process and their willingness to pay for the creation of decent living conditions. The choice of redevelopment types is also an important consideration for what type of housing and what kind of residential environment to make. Taking into account strong preference to multi-family housing construction type, the REI programme should be more concentrated on stimulation and assistance to the site improvement type.
(1) Residents Aspect Their main interests are generally centered on physical housing improvement and site problem solution. The former includes provision of toilets, running water, proper heating system. If possible, hot bath could be added to housing facilities for their own use. The latter is to alleviate road, parking, and playground problems. However, satisfaction of them is not a simple matter.
First of all, residents in the REI sites need concrete architectural guidelines for what to do and how to proceed. The guidelines allow them to make their own decisions on the costs they must pay and the outcomes they receive
71 from the programme. That involves improvement of individual parcels and site changes on the whole. For the costs and benefits of site improvement, practical REI Plan shows blue prints of their future community development and indicates that residents’ consensus and their obligation are required.
Alternatives to Main Issues by Residential Environment Improvement Type Site Improvement Type MHC Type
Programme itself Revitalization needed United with HR Site Designation Designation index (added) Scenery, natural environ. Traffic, Commercial
Single-family Preservation Oppression of MHC No single apartment
Project Speed Concrete guidelines Ok Housing Improvement Resident opinion collectn Local govt assistance Boundary advice Prototype Model Single-family model Ok Minimum housing standard Qualitative improvement Ok log Redevelopment cost Matching fund Ok Finance Infrastructure cost Local govt assistance Ok Parking Space acquisition Ok Site Planning Community facilities Space acquisition Ok Road expansion Active redressing Access to main road Low-cost housing Ok (facility upgrade) Small unit productn Low-income Household Public rental housing Use of single-family houses Ok Protection Housing costs Housing voucher* Rent supplement*
Note : MHC stands for multi-family housing construction. * denotes that it is not existing.
In the preparation of the REI Plan, it is necessary to understand fully that the residents have limited financial ability to pay for the whole redevelopment even if they are eager to upgrade their living conditions. Hence, it is urgent to provide official assistance from local and central
72 government in terms of finance and land transfer. At least, public facilities for the community should be constructed through usage of public land or purchase of private land. Public rental housing provision and relocation costs are also important element for the successful accomplishment. In the past, the incidence of the costs is usually on the resident side. Active financial assistance should be inserted in this part. Existing financial assistance programmes for housing repair and rehabilitation should be activated in a manner that the assistance can be transformed into an upgrade of the living conditions.
(2) Local and Central Government Aspect They understand thoroughly that this programme is to assist low-income households to improve their living conditions to the decent level. Hence, the bottom lines of the programme are to preserve current site characteristics and to protect low-income households and tenants, creating relatively decent and affordable residential environment.
Choosing a development type, site improvement or multi-family housing construction is up to residents consensus and decision. However, the local government must prepare what kind of redevelopment should be taken place in a specific site. To derive systematic outcomes and to avoid urban residential sprawl, site designation indicators should be amended, and multi-family housing construction type should be chosen at the lower altitude and high accessibility by transit.
Road and infrastructure should be provided by the government at their
73 own cost. There are ample institutional measures to collect costs of infrastructure installation. What matters on this issue is who initiates the development. It is the time to change the principle of installation costs to initial payment by the government from the principle of developer payment. In relation to that, supply of redevelopment costs is also necessary through matching fund mechanism. Creation of redevelopment matching fund requires financial source for them and its corresponding programmes for the operation. Provision of public rental housing is an element that has been left in the hands of local governments. As a matter of fact, it is also an obligation of the central government. Considering regional housing provision rates, the rental housing provision can be a form of public rental housing construction or purchase of current single-family houses.
Prototype development for single-family housing sites is one of most important tasks that has been indicated in every report and never been accomplished. Understanding that single-family houses provide relatively low cost residences, Model City technique should be applied to create inexpensive residences.
(3) Institutional Aspect of Urban Planning We have experienced that REI Programme and others have been exercised for unbalanced high-rise development and created urban residential sprawl. Hence, main interests of the institutional aspect are to implement a legal basis for systematic residential development by similar programmes and to maintain systematic residential structure. This could be accomplished by the enacted Urban and Residential Environment Improvement Law. The law
74 combines three different redevelopment programmes of Multi-family Housing Reconstruction, HR, and REI programmes into one system. It will allow us to categorize redevelopment sites and to create decent housing conditions in and out of the sites in a manner that residents initiated developments can satisfy development capability set by the segmented residential land use and expectation of surrounding residents.
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References
Bae, Soon Suk et al., 2000. New Approaches of the Urban Renewal for the 21st Century. the Ministry of Construction and Transportation. (in Korean) Jang. Y. H. and E. C. Chung. 1997. "Directions of Housing Policies based on Housing Standards". The Seoul Development Review 5(2): pp3-24. (in Korean) Ministry of Construction and Transportation, http://www.moct.go.kr Park, Hwan-Yong. 2002. 2. "Analysis of Site Designation Indices for Deteriorated Residential Areas". Journal of Korea Planners Association 37(1): pp193-206. (in Korean). Park, Hwan-Yong. 2001.10. "Drawbacks and Policy Improvement for Housing Renewal and Multi-Family Housing Reconstruction Program". Planning and Policy. Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements. (in Korean) Park, Hwan-Yong. 2001.3. "Implementation Backgrounds and Development Characteristics of Residential Environment Improvement Program". Urban Affairs. Korea Local Administration Mutual Association. (in Korean) Park, Hwan-Yong and Chul Koh. 2000.5. "Reevaluation of Urban Renewal Programs and Community Development". Housing Studies Review 8(1): pp139-162. (in Korean) Park, Hwan-Yong. 2000.4. "Establishment of Housing Standards for Efficient Housing Provision". Journal of Korea Planners Association 35(2): pp59-70. (in Korean). Seoul Metropolitan Government. 1994. The History of the Urban Renewal in Seoul. (in Korean). Seoul Metropolitan Government. 1999. The Comprehensive Plan of Housing Redevelopment. (in Korean).
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CHAPTER 4
Identification and Assessment of Potential Clearance Areas
Bob Ferris The Birmingham City Council, United Kingdom
1. Introduction
Potential clearance areas are brought to the attention of local housing authorities (LHAs) either through reactive or proactive work programmes. LHAs are required to react to complaints of housing disrepair and to requests for financial assistance to carry out repairs. The resources LHAs have for these purposes are severely limited and therefore most LHAs have procedures in place, in addition to those specified in statute, to filter requests for assistance and to identify those cases in which the alleged housing defects have the potential to be seriously deleterious to the health of the occupants.
Generally speaking the dwellings where the LHA is required to consider
77 compulsory clearance as a reactive enforcement action are those that are either:
h Unfit for human habitation h In a state of disrepair and structural instability linked to poor ground conditions h Concentrations of empty, abandoned or unwanted houses h Dwellings those are dangerous due to the bad arrangement, or the narrowness or bad arrangement of the streets.
Assuming that the LHA's initial assessment indicates that a response should be made a suitably qualified surveyor carries out an inspection of the dwelling to assess its condition in accordance with the fitness standard3 which is soon to be replaced by the Housing Health and Safety Risk Assessment. In addition and in compliance with the guidance on neighbourhood renewal assessment (NRA) the surveyor assesses whether the external condition of the property is typical of the block or terrace. This is especially relevant if defects indicating structural instability or gross disrepair have been identified. Depending on the severity of the defects discovered, the estimated cost of remedial works and assumptions made about the condition of the adjoining properties it may be necessary to survey the rest of the block.
Qualified LHA surveyors have some limited powers of entry with which to gain access to the adjoining properties but generally these only come into
3 Fitness for human habitation is defined by section 604 of the Housing Act 1985 and the associated guidance.
78 force when dealing with rented accommodation or when the LHA has made formal decisions about the future of housing units. The surveyors mostly rely on their inter personal skills and the willingness of residents to allow their properties to be surveyed to complete their inspections of the adjoining properties. At this stage neither the initial complainant or grant applicant nor the occupiers of the neighbouring properties know the possible consequences of the survey work being carried out. The surveyor may then proceed to a full neighbourhood renewal assessment of the properties inspected, which will include an economic and socio-environmental appraisal of the dwellings and their occupiers.
Compulsory clearance proposals that result from reactive work programmes tend to be a shock to the system for both the LHA and the residents involved. For a resident, enquiring about the availability of a renovation grant to carry out essential repairs to their home, being advised that an NRA indicates that both their own and their neighbours homes should be demolished are not that they want or expect to hear. Similarly a tenant expecting the LHA to intervene with a landlord to get repairs carried out may or may not be happy to be rehoused as a result of a subsequent compulsory clearance action but this could be an unwelcome result for the occupiers of adjoining properties.
For an LHA struggling to ration resources a potential compulsory clearance area with its demands for staff, revenue and capital resources is unwelcome. As few LHAs have unallocated resources they are faced with either diverting resources from other housing programmes, delaying taking
79 action until the next or some future financial year, or offering a sub-optimal response to the housing conditions brought to their attention. A sub-optimal response could be, depending on the circumstances, to discharge the LHA's requirement to consider enforcement action by making a Closing Order or Demolition Order on an unfit house effectively making an individual resident responsible for resolving the unfitness issue even if the housing conditions identified have implications for an adjoining house or a whole terrace of houses. Alternatively the LHA may choose to carry out some limited palliative work that improves housing conditions in the short term but fails to address the underlying causes of unfitness or abandonment.
In an ideal world LHAs will be sufficiently aware of the housing conditions in their area and have the resources necessary for a proactive housing regeneration Programme as part of their overall housing strategy to deal with issues such as:
h Housing layouts and designs that are obsolete and unpopular due to location, arrangement lack of amenity or energy efficiency, h External and internal environments adversely affected by proximity to road traffic, rail or industry, h Residual or isolated blocks in neighbourhoods subject to wholesale clearance and redevelopment during the 1960's, or h Dwellings that are - Non-conforming uses in predominantly commercial or industrial areas - Affected by comprehensive redevelopment schemes
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- Affected by structural defects - Uneconomic to manage or difficult to let
The LHA's housing strategy will be published as part of the Local Strategic Partnership's community plan. In reality LHAs rarely have adequate resources and only a limited amount of planned compulsory clearance of housing can be identified in published strategy documents for a number of sound reasons. For example it would be politically unacceptable to announce the details of potential clearance areas without full consultation with the owners and occupiers. In addition compulsory clearances can only be declared when an LHA has the resources immediately available or a realistic expectation that the resources are going to be available within a reasonable period of time to prevent residents suffering from a prolonged period of blight before they can expect to be compensated for their losses or rehoused. Also in terms of an overall strategy the wholesale blighting of a neighbourhood by premature publication of clearance proposals may cause additional disturbances in an already unbalanced local housing market.
The concept of a neighbourhood renewal assessment has already been introduced in relation to reactive housing work. NRAs have a greater role in proactive housing programmes as both a broad-brush appraisal tool for whole neighbourhoods and for the assessment of the most satisfactory course of action for individual blocks of houses4 NRAs or Estate Appraisals, as they are often called in public sector housing programmes, are by nature an overt activity with all stakeholders and interested parties in a neighbourhood
4 The NRA process is discussed in greater detail in "The Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment Process and its role in the Compulsory Clearance of Housing".
81 being given the opportunity to participate. Interested parties in this context includes local Councillors and may also include the Chair of the decision making body for housing purposes and Members of Parliament. LHAs need to ensure that the adequate resources are going to be available to deliver the recommendations arising from the likely outcomes of an NRA before embarking on this process to avoid raising unrealistic aspirations among residents and embarrassment for the elected representatives and the LHA.
The identification and assessment phase of the compulsory clearance process ends with the preparation of a report summarizing the NRA, putting the NRA site into context with housing and other strategies, making a recommendation as to the most satisfactory course of action for the LHA to take and the specific powers available to the LHA to implement the recommended action. In Birmingham private sector housing NRA reports are then considered by an inter-departmental working group of officers involved in the NRA and clearance management process. Subject to the agreement of this group the second phase of the clearance process begins.
2. The Formal Declaration Process
Before publicly declaring their intention to clearance an area of private sector housing the LHA must be satisfied that:
h Notices of intent have been served on all persons with an owner's interest in the buildings h Representations have been invited and considered
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h Suitable alternative accommodation can be provided or secured for all displaced households, and h The LHA has the resources to carry the clearance through
The legislation also requires that tenants are advised of the LHA's intentions. In practice a notice is served on the tenants that is very similar to that served on the owners. The notices of intent invite owners to make their opinion of the proposed clearance known to the LHA in writing. In parallel with these notices a public notice is published in local newspapers providing an opportunity for unidentified owners and the residents of the wider neighbourhood to make representations. Any written representations are presented to the decision-making body for consideration before a recommendation to declare a clearance area is considered.
Provided the NRA process has been carried out thoroughly these notices should not come as a surprise to the owners and residents of properties in the proposed clearance area and the formal consultation phase can be perfunctory. However, experience has shown that a number of residents will deny any knowledge of the NRA that has been carried out and it is helpful to record all contacts between LHA officers and residents during the NRA period to rebut allegations of a failure to consult at an earlier stage. At some stage in NRA process it is therefore essential to have spelt out clearly in writing and in public meetings or interviews that compulsory clearance is one of the options being considered by the LHA and the consequences that would flow from a clearance declaration.
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At this stage any meaningful intervention from politicians and community activists is most likely to occur. Therefore as with the residents themselves it is important to be able to prove that the local politicians were also invited to participate in the NRA process. Case law from the High Court concerning the NRA process has stated that local elected politicians are the representatives of the wider neighbourhood within which an NRA site is located and the involvement of these in the consultation/decision making process can compensate for the failure to invite members of the public from beyond the NRA site to participate.
Also at this stage it is essential that other departments within the local authority and certain public utilities are informed of the intention to declare a clearance area and invited to make representations either in favour of or against the proposal. In the majority of cases these other bodies have no interest in the proposal but on occasions:
h Planning may object on the grounds that the buildings have some architectural merit or historical interest, h Transportation take the opportunity to bring forward a highway improvement plan and in consequence may seriously reduce the redevelopment potential of a cleared site, h Education may be concerned that a major clearance programme would threaten the viability of a school, h Water utilities may question the capacity of the water and drainage infrastructure to accommodate the proposed redevelopment.
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A statement confirming that the four preconditions (notices, representations, rehousing and resources) have been fulfilled must be included in the LHA's clearance area declaration. The area of unfit, dangerous or injurious buildings must also be identified on a map and a copy of the map, the declaration and a statement of the number of persons living in the area must be sent to the Government Office for the Region. The most frequent challenge to LHAs from the Government Offices about private sector housing declarations concerns the accuracy of clearance and compulsory purchase order (CPO) maps. Before the guidance on the content of compulsory purchase orders was relaxed in February 2003 minor inaccuracies on maps could cause prolonged delays or even a refusal to recommend that the Secretary of State confirm the CPO. Assuming that the LHA's decision-making body agrees with the NRA conclusions and recommendations a clearance declaration is made along with a resolution to enforce the declaration with a CPO. The third and most traumatic phase of the clearance process then begins.
3. Effecting Clearance
This phase begins with the formal notification to residents that the clearance area has been declared along with an invitation to begin negotiating the voluntary sale of their homes to the LHA. It is at this point that the imbalance of power between the LHA with its teams of in-house professionals and individual residents becomes most apparent. In order to redress the balance slightly Birmingham City Council always advises residents to employ the services of a suitably qualified professional to advise
85 them and to negotiate with the LHA on their behalf. The cost of employing this professional assistance is eventually re-imbursed by the City Council as part of the compensation settlement. In some of the larger housing regeneration projects the Council promotes and funds the appointment of a residents champion to act on behalf of the neighbourhood as a whole in its negotiations with the city. In the spirit of empowering local communities the residents champion is appointed by and answerable the residents not the LHA.
Residents rarely co-operate to present a united front to the LHA in negotiations or in opposition to compulsory clearance. Generally they fragment into self-interested households or groups that the LHA can deal with individually. Broadly residents fall into three categories:
1. Fully accepting of the situation. Eager to negotiate a compensation settlement, find a new home and move on. 2. Refusing to acknowledge that anything serious is happening. Keeping quiet and hoping the compulsory clearance will go away. 3. Fully opposed to the compulsory clearance. Not prepared to negotiate. Waiting to make a formal objection to the forthcoming CPO and expecting to see the LHA's order overturned by the Secretary of State.
The first group are clearly, in the LHA's eye at least, the best advised, the most pragmatic or the most realistic of the clearance households. These residents understand that LHAs rarely invest the amount of time and a resource required to declare a clearance area and then walks away without
86 prosecuting the declaration through to a CPO and a cleared site. In reaching an early settlement these owners take the risk that the LHA may be persuaded to increase the level compensation paid to those who hold out until the LHA is itself more eager to settle. This can arise because as time goes on and the number of empty homes awaiting demolition increases the LHA will be faced with increasing site management costs which may exceed any discrepancy between the LHA's offer of compensation and the residents' expectations. The LHA will also be facing increased political and public pressure to bring the action to a conclusion and may even have a developer in the wings waiting to get on site. However, those residents who agree a compensation settlement early will be best placed to acquire a new home on the open market. As time passes the number of residents with capital from their settlements in hand seeking new homes increases. The competition this creates will compress the local housing market, assuming the market is reasonably balanced, forcing up asking prices and making it more difficult to find accommodation.
The second group will be the target of lobbying both by the LHA and the objectors. If a number of the willing negotiators are rapidly rehoused and compensated this second group will also start to negotiate. If the experiences of the willing negotiators are difficult or unpleasant this undecided group will tend to gravitate toward the objectors prolonging the clearance action and making any subsequent CPO more time consuming and costly.
The third group can and often will be ignored by the LHA while they negotiate with the first group and seek to persuade the second group to
87 accept the situation and begin meaningful negotiations. On one level this inactivity has considerable benefits for the LHA. LHAs rarely have sufficient financial resources to pay compensation to all the households they are displacing in a single financial year and will have projected the cash flow for a clearance area over at least two and possibly three years. Determined objectors can be seen as volunteering to delay receiving compensation and assistance with rehousing until the middle or end of the clearance process.
Over time the environment surrounding the objectors' homes will deteriorate as the number of empty homes increases, the area becomes visibly more derelict and the level of nuisance from vandalism, trespass, fly tipping and rodent infestations become intolerable. As indicated above at this point the cost of managing the clearance area in terms of safety, security and rubbish removal increases, as does the political and community pressure to bring the action to a conclusion. Simultaneously there should be a growing awareness among the remaining residents that the LHA is absolutely determined to enforce the compulsory clearance action and is prepared to tolerate the short term decline of the neighbourhood into dereliction as the price of achieving the long term regeneration.
The LHAs ability to manipulate the environment in and around clearance areas arises from their control over the timing of CPOs, vesting and notices to treat. Some LHAs make CPOs immediately following the clearance declaration, which allows very little time for voluntary acquisitions to take place before the determined objectors can force the LHA into a public local inquiry (PLI). As a consequence the LHA may be faced by more objectors
88 than if they had delayed making the CPO for a year or eighteen months. Also, at this early stage in the process of decline, the dwellings will be in a relatively good condition and could give the impression to the Inspector at a PLI that retention and renovation is the most satisfactory course of action for some if not all of the NRA properties.
Other LHAs, like Birmingham, tend to allow a considerable period of time for voluntary negotiations before making a CPO and will be in possession of the majority of the dwellings before facing a PLI. With 60 or 70% of the dwellings empty, possibly vandalized, stripped of salvageable materials and having been left without routine maintenance for up to two years PLIs rarely result in the Secretary of State refusing to confirm a CPO. On occasions Inspectors will recommend that dwellings in Part IX5 CPOs are reclassified from unfit to fit be still recommend that the CPO is confirmed.
The biggest single factor in an LHA's ability to effect clearance is the availability of suitable housing for the displaced households. If this is readily available within the tenure of choice and within the residents' financial resources the clearance can be expected to proceed relatively smoothly. Residents will be unwilling to negotiate voluntary sales if the supply of available housing is inadequate, there is a lack of tenure options or the costs are beyond the residents means. Even when a CPO is made and confirmed and the LHA has vested the residents homes it will prove impossible to gain vacant possession. Vacant possession is the prerequisite of the final stage of effecting
5 Part IX of the Housing Act 1985 Slum Clearance power to secure the demolition of dwellings unfit for human habitation.
89 clearance demolition. The LHA's ability to demolish acquired properties is constrained by circumstances beyond their control. The pattern of acquisition may prevent the LHA assembling a contiguous block of vacant properties in their ownership without sharing a party wall with a privately owned or an occupied property. As the aim of compulsory clearance is wholesale demolition LHAs are reluctant to break terrace buildings in such a manner as to invoke rights of support and the need to carry out expensive accommodation works that would in their turn be demolished. As the number of acquired properties increases and the cost of managing decline rises the pressure to negotiate a settlement with the few remaining occupiers increases. LHAs put additional resources into the last few cases and may be tempted to enhance the level of compensation offered. In areas where there are likely to be a number of clearance declarations or a rolling clearance programme increasing compensation offers to secure blocks suitable for demolition will be self defeating. Initially the policy will succeed but soon the remaining residents will hear that increasing levels of compensation is being offered and will revise their expectations and will hold out for higher payments delaying the whole process.
On balance it is better to face the cost of managing decline and to put in place a comprehensive management plan involving housing management, site security, waste disposal and pest control and to create box buttresses to permit piecemeal demolition rather than give way to the temptation to buy off the last occupiers in a terrace. Eventually however the LHA will achieve vacant possession and a cleared site6. At which point the final and only
6 On certain difficult sites the buildings to be demolished may be left in place for the developer to have complete control over site preparation works such as the filling of cellar voids or
90 positive phase of compulsory clearance can begin.
4. Redevelopment
The introduction to the four phases of clearance above stated that the clearance process was not a linear progression through a number of distinct activities but a series of overlapping activities. None is more so than the issue of redevelopment. This issue is first addressed during the NRA when some indication of the redevelopment potential of the cleared site is required so that the site value and redeveloped value can be included in the economic and socio-environmental assessment. At the NRA stage this may be a purely speculative exercise. Except in the case of the largest clearance actions development companies are unlikely to be prepared to carry out feasibility studies in support of the clearance proposal that may not be translated into a site acquisition for several years.
In previous years LHAs often redeveloped housing sites for their own stock and when government policy prevented LHAs constructing new council houses this role was taken up by housing associations. The associations became the LHA's development partners and carried out design and feasibility works at risk but with a fair expectation of acquiring the cleared site from the LHA at a favourable site value. In fact the housing associations were frequently able to acquire sites at below market value arguing that the addition cost of achieving fixed space standards, life time home and energy efficiency standards put them at a disadvantage to private
decontamination.
91 sector developers and they were unable to pay market rates to acquire land. As the housing associations were also acquiring sites on the open market for development this alleged disadvantage could be questioned.
One consequence of these LHA/housing association partnerships was that for many years the only new housing provided in certain neighbourhoods was social housing for rent at a time when the tenure of choice for most economically active households was owner occupation. In effect the LHAs were creating an imbalance in local housing markets that have had unfortunate consequences for neighbourhood sustainability. LHAs are now much more careful about the agreements they reach with developers for the sale and use of clearance sites. A greater emphasis is placed on housing market assessment and identifying the optimum mixed of property type and tenure to meet local housing needs and demands.
As housing markets are continually changing under the influence of supply and demand and other social and economic factors LHAs are less likely to commit themselves to a specific form of development until much nearer the point of achieving a cleared site. Therefore while some indicative development plans may be prepared at the NRA stage a full blown planning application is unlikely to be submitted until the LHA decides that the CPO should be made. Custom and practice dictated that before entering a PLI the LHA, or its selected developer, should have planning permission in place to prove the viability of the redevelopment proposal. As indicated above there may still be a considerable delay between making a CPO and secured a cleared site and it may be unwise for LHAs or developers to commit
92 themselves to a specific development at this point. Recent guidance on CPOs is much more flexible on this issue and will accept that LHAs can proceed with a CPO based on planning guidance and indicative plans.
With developers coming on board much later in the clearance process, or with sites simply being marketed after clearance has been secured, several years may pass as planning details are resolved and the resources are in place to complete the sale and redevelopment. During this phase the clearance site could become a target for fly tipping and the LHA will be required to continue to use its resources to keep the site clean and secure either as the owners or as the authority responsible for enforcing environmental health legislation.
5. In Conclusion
Compulsory clearance legislation may change, government housing policy may become less prescriptive and local housing authorities may develop housing strategies ranging from the regional to sub-district level but the practical side of achieving clearance is unlikely to change substantially. Clearance declarations will continue to be preceded by some form of Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment or Estate Appraisal initiated within a reactive or proactive housing programme. Authorities will be required to publicize their intentions and to make formal decisions to clear. The process of negotiating vacant possession and rehousing will remain just as traumatic for the households being displaced and the promised land of redevelopment will take forever to achieve.
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CHAPTER 5
The Challenge of Rehousing
Bob Ferris The Birmingham City Council, United Kingdom Rick Groves Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, United Kingdom
1. Introduction
Rehousing or "an finding alternative home" is one of the most important elements of the clearance and redevelopment process within the United Kingdom. Through observation of two areas of regeneration in Birmingham it is proposed to explore some of the procedures and practices developed to support those residents affected to find alternative homes.
This paper builds on those presented by Bob Ferris (Birmingham City Council) and Rick Groves (Centre for Urban and Regional Studies) at the Second Korean Housing Conference which considered, respectively, the powers and mechanisms that bring about redevelopment of older housing in
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England and Wales and with the emerging funding arrangements to achieve affordable housing.
2. Clearance-Core Principles
Some of the successes described in this paper arise from a more determined approach by the officers and teams involved to make the process work underpinned by three core principles.
h The delivery of a sympathetic clearance programme h Lead officer responsibility h Making a complicated process work
These guide the thinking behind the delivery of schemes in Birmingham and reflect earlier criticisms of the "slum" clearance schemes of the 1950' and 1960's. Considerable numbers of people were moved out of unsatisfactory privately owned rented properties by local authority action. Then moved into new homes often-substantial distances from their original home or into the now largely discredited tower blocks. There is a growing perception amongst practitioners that the clearance pendulum may be swinging back towards clearance with a strategic neighbourhood renewal motive rather than a response to a condition based objective. During the 1980's and 90's the majority of private sector demolitions have utilized powers that relate the impact of poor housing conditions on the health of the occupiers. This form of action is decreasing as the general condition of housing improves and small-scale demolition has a limited impact on the
96 economics of the local housing market.
The delivery of a sympathetic clearance programme While the scale of clearance has diminished the impact on individuals and communities has not. Clearance, the demolition of someone's home, remains disruptive and stressful so it is crucial that the process is managed as sympathetically and transparently as possible. Partly through revised guidance and partly through demographic change, (the majority of clearance households are now owner occupiers), the process now involves more participation and residents have access to professional advice and better opportunities to challenge the proposals.
In practical terms households affected by clearance are treated as clients with specific needs, in particular they have housing needs which will need to be met before redevelopment can take place. It is also increasingly important for those affected to be involved and preferably engaged in the redevelopment process. Through such involvement schemes attain a higher degree of sustainability and resident feel part of the process. Expanding clearance activity beyond issues of the traditional issues of housing condition will require greater attention to this principle of engaging residents in change and renewal over a wider area and beyond their own immediate needs.
Lead officer responsibility A variety of organizations are involved in the bringing about clearance and redevelopment. Experience has shown that although the process can be
97 subdivided into 6 key stages
h Investigation h Participation h Approval/funding h Delivery (compensation/rehousing/demolition) h Compulsory purchase procedures h Redevelopment
There is also a need for continuity between those elements and more importantly continuity of contact for residents. To achieve this a nominated officer takes responsibility for the majority of co-ordination and communication with residents and management of the case. This provides a single point of contact through whom all issues and concerns can be chandelled and provide a principal contact for residents and a coordinator for the various agencies involved. Wherever possible the lead officer oversees the scheme from initial investigation through declaration or approval to public local inquiry and to the point of redevelopment. This continuity demonstrates commitment by the authority and leads to better co-ordination and co-operation between the agencies involved.
Making a complicated process work It is important to recognize that bringing about the demolition of a home or group of homes is a complicated process which requires planning, commitment and organization. It has to be driven along and many challenges emerge in the range of disciplines that form part of the process. The process
98 of moving home is complicated enough, it ranks high on the list of activities that induce high levels of stress even when pursued on a voluntary basis rather than an activity largely imposed from outside. During the moving process the majority of those affected will need support and assistance to enable them to find suitable alternative housing. To achieve this requires teamwork and focus.
3. The study areas
Saltley and Lozells are two areas of the city where rehousing projects are in progress to address the needs of local communities affected by clearance actions. Both areas have a number of similarities and differences that influence the delivery of rehousing and the initiatives that may develop in the context of changes to law and policy. Recognizing these differences and changes is the key to the development of new solutions to meet the residents rehousing needs.
To summarize the following notes outline the basic similarities and variations between the regeneration areas within Saltley and Lozells.
Historical perspective Saltley to the east and Lozells to the northwest of Birmingham city centre are both substantial areas of housing built prior to 1919 to provide homes for families near local industry, Lozells is near the Jewellery quarter and the heavy manufacturing industries of the Black Country, while Saltley was the focus for railway rolling stock production and the main gas manufactory for
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Birmingham. Both areas of housing appear to have been built on ground that had to some extent been worked for sand or clay for use in the local building industry. Saltley in particular had substantial areas of excavation. In both areas the housing market was based around the private renting of leasehold properties providing local landowners with a regular annual income from ground rent that continued to affect the market well into the 1990's.
The regeneration areas of Lozells and Saltley considered in this paper have both seen earlier forms of housing intervention before the current rehousing schemes. Lozells was part of a redevelopment area (late 1960's) that saw substantial number of homes incorporated into the municipal portfolio and both areas saw improvement initiatives as either Housing Action Areas or General Improvement Areas (1970's~1980's).
Housing conditions Saltley and Lozells lie within the middle ring of suburban development although generally they are perceived as inner city areas. This may reflect the fact that what was considered the very worst of housing the slums, courthouses and back to backs were demolished in substantial number from the 1930's through to the late 1960's. In some ways these areas were probably spared the bulldozer by the oil crisis of the 1970's. So it would be inaccurate and misleading to call these homes slums even though demolition is now considered appropriate.
In both regeneration areas the housing is of traditional construction using local red clay brick with slate or tile roofs. Predominantly two storey
100 terraced houses with two or three bedrooms most homes have internal facilities although originally this would have been limited to an external water closet. Most homes are entered directly off the pavement but many have small front gardens and/or a small front hallway.
In Saltley the basis of clearance is specific to condition, either the cost of dealing with basic disrepair is considered too high or the impact of ground conditions on the properties precludes retention on a value for money basis.
In Lozells the basis for clearance is linked to concerns about the local housing market, and stock profile (size and tenure). Some homes within Groves located to the rear of other homes and "remote" from vehicle access have been abandoned creating a downward spiral in the stability of occupation Birmingham and these areas in particular have seen the housing market adjust over a relatively short period from apparently low demand to higher demand possibly linked to the high level of black and minority ethnic (BME) residents in the community. This may be reflect a number of factors including an increase in wealth or low interest rates encouraging more settled communities to invest.
Demography In both areas the BME communities form an important factor in the demography of the area and the process of rehousing. For Saltley the majority of residents are members of families who originate from the Mirpur region of Pakistan for Lozells the community is more mixed with families representing communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and the Caribbean.
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Both areas have emerging issues with regard to asylum seekers from Eastern Europe and other territories.
Family sizes are generally higher than both the City and National averages, with extended family arrangements existing in homes and within streets within the area. Some homes will be overcrowded beyond legal limits and replacement or alternative housing profiles need to take account of these factors.
Residents naturally do not wish to move far from the very important networks and structures of support that exist between families and members of the community in these areas.
In Saltley by far the majority of residents are owner occupiers while Lozells is more mixed with the majority renting from the local authority but with increasing numbers transferring to owner occupation through the "right to buy" option. Traditionally owner occupation in the UK would be considered as a feature of middle to high-income families but in these and other communities the low income homeowner is a feature of the housing demographic and reflects aspirations of BME communities to own their own home.
Rehousing programmes There are some key differences between the Saltley and Lozells programmes in which the clearance and rehousing processes operate.
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In Saltley the programme has developed in In Lozells the proposed redevelopment of the the context of two Renewal Areas declared in area is in the context on a much wider initiative 1991 to support the regeneration of the Northwest Birmingham Pathfinder. approximately 3500 homes the majority of which have been improved. The clearance The approval process is incremental some proposals now amounting to 500 homes homes have been identified for acquisition and overall have been incremental and reflect the demolition but the substantial programme conditions found as the programme requires further consultation and approval. progressed. The funding stream may rely on bids to an This has meant that redevelopment has been outside agency but the redevelopment proposals subordinate to the processes of rehousing and are well advanced. It is hoped that this may demolition. counterbalance the local shortage of suitable housing particularly in the public sector stock. The demand for owner occupation is high and over 100 homes have been built and the area In Lozells the opportunity to plan and develop has seen substantial rises in property values. rehousing solutions is greater.
In both areas participation and consultation with the residents is seen as a key part of the process at an individual and community level.
The redevelopment process has provided a This programme includes a residents steering focus for key officers and local councilors to group which has strong links with the local meet and track progress and meet developers. neighbourhood forum.
4. Making clearance happen - the rehousing challenge.
The key challenge that faces any scheme involving a significant level of rehousing can be summarized as the balance or tension between:
NEEDS v. ASPIRATIONS
Resident's housing needs are represented by the minimum a family requires to at least replicate the provision available to them in their current home. It may also reflect the best available to the authority at any given time. Inevitably though families and households aspirations vary greatly and most
103 will want to improve their circumstances. In particular clearance arising from health-based interventions should aim for more aspirations housing to achieve health gains. There are a whole set of factors that influence the solutions achieved including:
h Funds available from the client h Housing stock available h Housing market (values) within local area h Compensation available h Reason for action
These considerations have played an important part in the development of solutions in Saltley and guide that process in Lozells as the scale and challenge emerge.
Enabling the residents to move home involves a range of professionals supporting residents often on their own initiative achieve satisfactory housing. Working with other agencies authorities are able to utilize officers with specific skills and develop solutions to bring about rehousing.
5. Support from Officers
Each of the Saltley clearance areas has a lead officer to co-ordinate contact with the resident and provide support in identifying the range of housing solutions. Community Support Officers with relevant language skills are available to support the lead officer achieve a clear understanding of the
104 details and issues for each family or household and an understanding of the range between their needs and aspirations. Housing Officers deal with specific applications for local authority or housing association tenancies. Proposals to expand that role are being explored to provide wider advice on solutions in the local housing market and provide a specific contact during the removal process.
In a recent development affecting both areas an officer has been nominated to match clients with high cost voids taken out of the local authorities rental pool pending repairs, this has lead to shorter turn round times and swifter rehousing from Clearance into public housing. In a specific example a client with disabilities has been allocated a property to be adapted to meet his specific medical needs, needs which could not have been met in his current home.
In Lozells a group of "housing providers" (officers from the local authority and housing associations) meet regularly to review the demand arising from the clearance areas and to develop opportunities and practical solutions to meet clients needs.
6. Housing solutions
To engage residents in discussions about rehousing it is important to understand the range of solutions available technically, financially and locally and to be aware of the limitations of those alternatives. In theory residents from all tenures should have the opportunity for reasonable access
105 to all other forms of tenure but this may not be feasible, or desirable, in practice. In principle then residents have a range of tenure based options available to meet their housing needs and the choice from that selection is likely to reflect their own financial position or their own preference for meeting the specific cost of housing (rent or mortgage).
The basic housing solutions are h Council tenancy- renting from the local authority h Housing Association tenancy-renting from a registered social landlord h Private tenancy-renting from a private landlord h Outright purchase-using savings or borrowing to buy a home h Shared ownership-sharing the equity or title in the house with an agency
Working with families affected by clearance has shown that the boundaries of the traditional forms of housing tenure need to be blurred and there needs to be a greater flexibility between tenures to bring about solutions and achieve targets related to affordable housing. To meet this challenge a further category is emerging:
h Supported ownership-helping both owners and tenants achieve a stake in the property market through different schemes
◊ DIYSO- Do It Yourself Shared Ownership Applicants are able to choose a home from the local market and buy the house on similar to shared ownership which is normally
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limited to new build.
◊ Tenants incentive schemes Applicants who are currently tenants of local authorities or RSL's are given a grant as a deposit to buy a home useful in areas of low supply for rented housing.
◊ Community Land Trusts A group of residents form a trust to share ownership of land in trust upon which to build homes. Few examples exist of this as yet in relation to housing provision but a similar concept is provided by:
◊ Self build Residents share costs or labour skills to buy and construct homes on land. These ventures can be self-financing or involve other agencies to provide basic backing. Both Community Land Trusts and Self Build require community support and the availability of land in the local area.
A further version of supported ownership to arise from clearance areas is:
◊ Relocation grants Originated from a pilot project in Saltley called Rebuilding Grants this scheme identified a mechanism for households to apply for grant aid to fill the affordability gap between
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compensation and cost of buying new home in the locality. A mix of funding enabled home-owners to buy into new, larger family homes within the locality. This project was achieved through partnership between City Council, Government, Housing Association, a private developer (and the future owners).
In Lozells the challenges to rehousing centre upon the existing demand for, and shortage of, suitable homes but with the potential for delivery of newly built homes to meet the aspirations of the community. Families affected by clearance are competing with other priority groups such as homeless families and asylum seekers with equal if not greater official rehousing priority. The key factor to successful rehousing in this locality will be a local housing allocation policy encompassing the release of existing homes and the allocation of new build to affected families in an open and fair process. This policy may embrace the work being done on choice based letting in the wider Housing Market Renewal Area.
7. Rehousing - Making it happen
The challenge of rehousing has led to some innovative solutions to the needs and aspirations of residents. These have been developed through listening and understanding to those forced to lose their homes through clearance action. Those involved in moving families on to alternative homes need to explore every opportunity and possibility to make rehousing possible.
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CHAPTER 6
Castle Vale Housing Action Trust
1. Introduction
· Castle Vale is Birmingham's largest 60's housing estate- · Population: nearly 11,000 · Size: 2.5 Km2 (1.5 square miles) · Number of homes: approx. 4,000 · Castle Vale has: 5 schools, 12 nursery providers, 3 Churches, a football stadium, Leisure Centre, Swimming Baths, Stables, Library, residents' Club, Community Hall, Community Centre, one Stop Centre and two Shopping Centres · In addition, Castle Vale has a charity and advice centre and two Doctor's surgeries
Castle Vale is situated 7 miles north east of the centre of Birmingham. It is Birmingham's largest post-war housing estate, built between 1964 and 1969 to house families displaced by Birmingham's inner clearance programme. Castle Vale quickly began to experience a range of problems of an economic and social nature, as well as physical problems associated with the construction techniques used, many of which were untested. As a result of this, discussions took place between the City, Central Government and the Castle Vale community about the best way of addressing these problems. Castle Vale experienced problems similar to those deprived neighbourhoods
109 that have been identified in the Government's national strategy for neighbourhood renewal.
In 1993, under the powers of the 1988 Housing Act and following a feasibility study by the Council, Castle Vale Housing Action Trust (HAT) was set up to improve the estate and the quality of life there. Castle Vale HAT is one of five HATs in the UK funded by the Government (through the Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions). The 12 year-regeneration programme is one of the largest in the country and involves around 270 million of public and private investment.
Currently: - The Shopping Centre has recently been completed though is not yet fully occupied. - The neighbourhood strategies are still progressing, with improvements to housing and associated environmental improvements having been completed in some areas but not yet in others. - Several infill sites have been developed with new housing and a planning application for a large area of new housing south of Farnborough Road (in accordance with one of the development briefs) is expected shortly. - An artificial sports pitch is currently under construction adjacent to the existing sports facilities, and a small business enterprise park has recently been completed off Park Lane. - To complement the ambitious development programme, the HAT has also set in motion a wide range of economic and community development initiatives, to ensure the changes are sustained long after
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the HAT is disbanded.
2. Castle Vale HAT
h Setting Up Castle Vale Housing Action Trust (the HAT) was set up by statute under the 1998 Housing Act as a non-departmental body (NDPB), or Quango, in 1993. This followed a ballot that saw 92% of a 75% turnout of Castle Vale residents voting in favour of a HAT taking responsibility for the estate. The HATs task was the complete regeneration of Castle Vale and the reversal of nearly 30 years of physical, social and economic decline.
h Why the HAT was set up? The HAT was set up to regenerate Castle Vale. This chiefly means ◊ The improvement and redevelopment of housing. ◊ The improvement of the ' quality of life ', that is - the economic, social, living and environmental conditions.
h How is the HAT revitalizing Castle Vale? The HAT's vision is for a new Castle Vale, created by working with residents and others for: ' a self sustaining community living in high quality homes in a pleasant and safe environment '.
The HAT's primary customers are the 9,000 residents of Castle Vale. Of the current 3,786 homes in Castle Vale, 1,331 are occupied by HAT tenants, 870 by tenants of CVCHA or other Housing Associations, 121 nursing and homes for sale, and 1,464 are owner occupied.
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The HAT is run by a twelve person Board appointed by the Secretary of State (currently the Deputy Prime Minister), consisting of four residents, three City Council nominees and five from the private sector. In addition, representatives of the democratically elected community group, Castle Vale Tenants and Residents Alliance (TRA) and the HAT sponsored Castle Vale Community Housing Association (CVCHA) attend and speak at Board meetings. As a Quango, the HAT receives most of its funding from Government, and is responsible to Government, in addition to its customers, for its actions.
The HAT currently has 76 staff, 1/3rd of whom are either residents or ex-residents of Castle Vale. This is a reduction from a total of 137 staff in 97-99, and will reduce to 68 staff in 04/05. As a short life organization, the HAT will end in March 2005.
Holistic Regeneration: a conscious effort was made from the start to focus not only on the physical regeneration but also on all the issues which had for so long affected residents' lives and ensure that the positive changes would be long lasting. This included tackling in partnership the 'wicked issues' of unemployment, low educational attainment, crime and health, which has now become a central part of the Government’s Social Inclusion and Neighbourhood Management agenda. The HAT's approach throughout has been inclusive and participative, with resident empowerment at its heart.
Comprehensive resident involvement permeates all areas of the HAT's
112 work. The HAT helped the community to set up a democratically elected residents group, the TRA, which is the HAT's first port of call on strategic issues. Residents sit on the HAT Board and Neighbourhood Management Board, as well as on all HAT sub-groups, working groups and committees.
Partnership working has been crucial as the HAT realized very early that although it could have a positive impact on the community, it could only achieve transformational change through residents and a range of other stakeholders and interest groups. This began by responding to resident requests for early action and by housing associations providing 'quick win' developments to show residents and staff that the HAT had begun its work. The approach was continued with 'Vale Watch', a partnership between the HAT, police, local schools, landlords and the community to tackle crime, anti-social behaviour and neighbour nuisance. Many projects involve a multi-agency approach, notably a Zero Tolerance campaign against violence to women and children backed by over 40 agencies, a Drugs and Substance Misuse strategy that involves 13 partners, and a credit union and junior credit union in partnership with Castle Vale residents.
Early succession planning: the HAT began considering succession (or sustainability) issues from its inception. The principal succession organizations established by the HAT are now in place. Castle Vale Community Housing Association (CVCHA), the community based and resident led Housing Association now manages 832 homes and has an increasing profile and support within the community. Merlin Venture Ltd as an Employment Trust has made significant progress since it was established
113 in 1998. It is now responsible for the Managed Labour Market, and for satellite businesses that are important for the sustainability of Castle Vale Tiggywinkles day nursery, Valescapes landscaping, Valley Travel, the community transport service, and the Freshstart decorators programme that is a partnership between Mercian Housing and CVCHA, and is part funded by the Housing Corporation. Castle Vale Community Care Partnership (CVCCP) manages the Sanctuary building. This provides a modern, community base for voluntary sector support in Castle Vale. The principal successor organizations are also members of Castle Vale Neighbourhood Management Board, which the HAT has established and is in the forefront of current Government regeneration thinking.
3. Vision and Aims of CVHAT
Castle Vale Housing Action Trust has a vision that when it has completed its task it will have established: "a self sustaining community living in high quality homes in a pleasant and safe environment. Castle Vale residents will enjoy an improved quality of life and economic opportunity; they will have been empowered to make choices regarding ownership and management of their homes".
To achieve this vision the HAT will: "work with residents of Castle Vale and others to achieve sustainable physical, economic and community regeneration. To achieve high quality services, value for money and equal opportunities in all the HATs activities".
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The HATs corporate aims are to: ◊ Secure the improvement or redevelopment of housing in Castle Vale ◊ Improve the economic, social, living and environmental conditions in Castle Vale ◊ Provide a wider choice of tenure and forms of ownership of dwellings to residents ◊ Provide a good and effective housing management service ◊ Realize the vision of sustainable and long lasting regeneration ◊ Provide an effective and efficient, well structured organization to realize the HAT's corporate aims ◊ Provide Board members, staff and residents with the expertise, training, services, information and skills which will help achieve the HAT's aims ◊ Optimize the funding available to Castle Vale from all sources
4. Performance result by 2003
h The results from the HAT's work have become internationally famous. h Unemployment has reduced to 4 1/2 % against a City average of 8%. h People in Castle Vale now live 5 years longer. h 31 of the original 34 high rise blocks have been demolished, 1,200 new homes have been built and 1,300 refurbished. h 1,400 jobs have been created, and 3,000 training places provided. h Government Funding ₤109 million, other funding ₤72.4 million. h Living Condition Local people wanted to leave Castle Vale when the HAT started. Now lots
115 of people want to live in Castle Vale. The HAT's waiting list is dominated by people from outside Castle Vale wanting to move in. Property prices have more than doubled.
Much of the change can be attributed to the close involvement of Castle Vale residents and the equal commitment of a range of other partners, each placing their own important imprint on the regeneration, and proud to be part of a vision that is making a real difference to people's lives.
In the last two years alone some ₤56 million has been spent on the physical changes, bringing the number of households enjoying a new or improved home to over 1,700 by start of 2001.
For many, secure homes with gardens have replaced high-rise living and those having their homes improved have benefited from an upgrade in the refurbishment standards, largely through the work being carried out by close working between residents, the HAT and contractors.
In addition, Castle Vale's streets have become safer and more attractive with the introduction of off-street parking, traffic calming measures and boulevards.
h Education Castle Vale Secondary School, which had suffered a gradual loss of pupils down to an annual intake of 63 and a school roll of 363 in 1993, and had expected further losses as numbers of local households decreased with the
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HAT demolition programme, has had an increasing waiting list for places in the last four years and in 2003 was considerably oversubscribed for first choices. Castle Vale School and Specialist Performing Arts College (which it became in 2002) is the only expanding LEA Secondary School in Birmingham, and is due to accommodate a total of over 1,000 children in September 2003, from over 25 different primary schools across North and East Birmingham.
h Review on CVHAT "Castle Vale shows that it is possible to make a real difference. By bringing people together the different sectors responsible for local services such as health, policing and education to work alongside the community, we can bring lasting and positive change to a deprived neighbourhood. The Government's National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal is taking forward the lessons learned from Castle Vale. Turning around years of neglect takes time and won't be easy, but in Castle Vale we can see it can happen". 「Barbara Roche MP in Minister finds out how to live five years longer Cabinet Office press release January 2002」
Housing Minister Sally Keeble said: "Under Richard Temple Cox's chairmanship, Castle Vale HAT has been very successful in terms of its development programme and wider economic and social regeneration agenda. The HAT has a deserved national reputation for its regeneration work, in particular helping shape Government policies. I am delighted that Richard Temple Cox has agreed to continue to guide the HAT during the
117 final years of its programme". 「"Confirming Richard Temple Cox7’s role as HAT Chairman until 2005" DTLR news release May 2002 」 The study found that HATs are exemplars of current government regeneration thinking, which forms the basis of the Social Exclusion Unit's draft Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy. They have made adult skills and user-friendly courses a priority, introduced 'tenant compacts', business start-up loans and grants, 'schools plus' activities, 'healthy living centres', and estate-based caretaking squads, and promoted high quality, accessible private sector service such as retailing and finance on their estates. They have also piloted new approaches to school truancy and exclusion and supported a range of measures to change the negative images often associated with disadvantaged estates. 「DETR Transferable Lessons in Regeneration from the Housing Action Trusts December 2000」
h Award for CVHAT achievement Castle Vale HAT was selected as one of only four winners to appear in the video promoting Charter Mark following its first award. The Charter Mark Assessor said in his 1997 report: "This dedicated team of staff have set themselves a challenging agenda, their encouragement and commitment has without a doubt already made an enormous difference to the lives of people of all ages. They have already regenerated homes, improved the environment, created employment and improved health facilities. They offer children the chance of a better life and have given this community a sense of value and
7 Richard Temple Cox was awarded the CBE in the June 2002 Birthday honours, as Chairman of Castle Vale HAT for services to the regeneration of Birmingham.
118 pride."
The HAT has won UK national awards for its partnership work, and has been visited by many organizations to understand its success in involving, not just consulting, its residents. The HAT Chairman and Chief Executive were requested to make presentations to the 1999 Parliamentary Select Committee on Quangos. The Select Committee published in its report that in its opinion Castle Vale HAT "took its efforts to consult with people affected by its work to unusual lengths".
The HAT also won the 2002 Midlands Excellence award for its organization. One of the things that particularly impressed the Assessors was the HAT's ability to motivate and retain its staff, given that the HAT is closing in 18 months.
5. Looking to the future
Over the last two years much headway has been made to further develop ' successor organizations ' which have emerged in their own right. They will be playing an even more important role over the coming years and, once the HAT has finished it's work in 2005, a number of these will look after areas of work currently being driven by the HAT.
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CHAPTER 7
City Living and New Urban Policy Challenges: The Implications of City Centre Housing Development in Englands Regional Cities
Austin Barber Centre for Urban and Regional Studies University of Birmingham
1. Introduction
The re-population of the central districts of England's major regional cities has been one of the most notable processes of urban change in the UK since the mid-1990s. It is a highly significant development given the recent emphasis in British urban policy debates about the need to re-invigorate the appeal of city living and halt the out-migration of affluent households. This challenge is seen as critical if the inter-related economic, social and environmental problems of British cities are to be addressed in a sustainable manner (Urban Task Force, 1999).
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The term "city living" in the British context refers to the practice of living not just in urban areas, but more specifically in their central districts that have not served a significant residential function for several decades. This paper provides an overview of the first substantive research to be undertaken into the city living process in an English regional city. It has two aims. First, to outline important dynamics of the market and the characteristics of the new populations in the city centre, as well as the relationship of this development to wider processes of urban demographic and economic change. Second, to highlight some problematic issues and negative implications that emerge and how they create a need for new institutional responses at this scale to manage and sustain the process for wider urban benefit. The case study of Birmingham is used to explore the policy and institutional implications arising from this important process of socio-spatial change in major urban areas.
2. City Centre Housing in England's Major Urban Areas - Background
City living in English regional cities can be seen as part of a significant change in the role and importance of central districts in spatial processes of urban change since the 1980s. From the 1950s to the 1980s these areas had been dominated by retail and office uses with little residential function aside from some small elements of social housing on the fringes of city centres. Economic restructuring, de-industrialization and the resulting social and environmental decline in major regional cities led to a decline in the viability of central districts generally and a substantial out-migration of affluent households. By the 1980s the popularity of urban living had reached a low
122 point, compounded by a longstanding English cultural preference in England in the virtues of small town, rural life (DETR, 2000).
1) The Emergence of City Centre Residential Development
From the 1980s, in Britain and elsewhere, there appeared a beginning of new interest in city living, spurred in part by a combination of structural economic change, demographic trends, transport/congestion factors and a shift in public policy priorities (Champion, 2001). Equally important, however, was the rise of "urban entrepreneurialism", as city governments and their private sector partners mobilized resources behind the speculative development of flagship projects and major property schemes in a high profile re-making of central urban space. These initiatives, a response to challenges of economic restructuring, most often centred on city centre and waterfront districts.
As a result, the centres of Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and other major cities have seen substantial new housing development since the mid-1990s, primarily involving the redevelopment of former industrial/commercial land and buildings. This transformation therefore differs from the classic gentrification processes that emerged in some of Europe's capital cities from the 1970s, characterized by the rehabilitation of older housing stock and neighbourhoods, leading to the displacement of existing populations (Smith, 1996). In British cities, this development trend began in a largely unplanned fashion, led by speculative private developers seeking to exploit perceived new market opportunities (Crouch, 1999; Seo, 2002).
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2) National and local policy context
The national policy context has become much more conducive to the growth of city living in recent years. This has been driven by the need to accommodate a significant rise in the number of households nationally and a desire to support a more sustainable form of development minimizing urban sprawl and the consumption of greenfield land. This ambition is reflected in new planning guidance relating to regional planning, housing development and retail provision, and in a new urban policy framework. The Government's Urban Task Force report in 1999 and the subsequent Urban White Paper (DETR, 2000) underlined the importance of improving the perception of urban living and of attracting and retaining economically active people in Britain's cities.
At the local level, city administrations have been slow to develop a specific policy approach to this development. However, the past three years have seen a growing recognition of the need for a new institutional response. This is motivated by two main factors. First, a growing appreciation of benefits that city living can bring for restructuring cities enhanced vitality of central districts and improved city image, knock-on effects for local services, improved security, more sustainable development, and the attraction and retention of young, skilled and creative people seen as key assets in the contemporary urban economy. Second, a recognition that the city living development is reaching a significant scale and that this will have implications for the wider functions of the growing city centres, the inner city areas immediately adjacent, and the workings of city and regional
124 housing markets.
In summary, it is evident that an important new process of regeneration and residential change is emerging at the scale of the city centre and its immediate fringes. However there is as yet no corresponding institutional or policy framework in place to manage and harness this development.
City centre housing development is, by virtue of its location, dynamics and intensity, distinctive in character from other markets in urban areas. City wide housing and planning policies may not therefore be adequate to manage a fast-changing process and new institutional and policy responses may be required in order that wider objectives can be achieved.
The remainder of this paper explores how one city has begun to meet this challenge. Birmingham is perhaps the most proactive English city in this respect and so provides an ideal study of the risks and opportunities inherent in creating a new response to this important and dynamic process of urban change.
3. City Living in Birmingham
Birmingham is a city of 1 million people, the largest city in UK outside London, and the hub of a conurbation of 2.2 million people. It is the unofficial capital of West Midland region, but since 1960s has suffered significant loss of population and a selective out-migration of affluent households and families to towns and rural areas in surrounding counties. In recent years, the population has stabilized due to high levels of
125 international migration and high natural birth rates, particularly amongst its ethnic minority households.
The out-migration was driven by the processes of economic restructuring and de-industrialization that affected the city from the late 1960s through the early 1990s. These led to a sharp rise in unemployment and associated problems of environmental decline and growing incidence of multiple deprivation among substantial part of the local population. Birmingham's fortunes were further undermined by a weak representation in new service sectors and an unattractive city centre resulting from post-war redevelopment that created a major new ring road network and a poor environment for pedestrians.
City policy makers and private sector interests responded to this economic crisis through an ambitious programme to diversify and modernize the city economy with a spatial focus on the city centre. The strategy had two main elements:
▪ the development of several flagship projects, most notably the International Convention Centre and associated arena, concert hall and hotel facilities ▪ a series of environmental investments in the urban fabric including new public spaces and partial demolition of the ring road network.
These initiatives were framed in a new spatial vision for the city centre that proposed an expansion outwards from the small core into a series of distinctive adjacent quarters. The strategy had two main aims a direct
126 ambition to create the facilities and environment for the new sector of business tourism. Second, and equally important, an indirect ambition to create a regeneration momentum in the city centre that would lead to further private investment and begin a transformation of the city's image and profile.
The business tourism function has proven very successful, but the indirect impacts were slower to emerge. However, since the mid-1990s the city centre has experienced an accelerating momentum of private investment in commercial, leisure, retail and cultural developments, beginning with the high profile Brindleyplace mixed use district near the ICC. The city centre has become the focus of employment growth for Birmingham, and it is leading the diversification and modernization of the city's economy. Equally important, the city centre hosts a broader and more complex range of activities that are beginning to grow in a mutually reinforcing process (Barber, 2001, 2002). The development of new housing and the emergence of a new residential population are increasingly important parts of that process.
4. Development trends and patterns
Birmingham has been perceived as a slow starter in the city living trend compared to centres such as Manchester and Liverpool. Early development in Birmingham was limited by its physical and economic legacy from the changes of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly the unattractive city centre environment and its poor image that deterred investment and visitors.
Birmingham's city centre population in the early 1990s was still limited
127 primarily to residents of the municipal estates constructed in the post-war wave of rebuilding. These estates were poorly integrated with the surrounding urban fabric, located adjacent to declining manufacturing districts and became increasingly characterized by high unemployment and multiple deprivation as the city economy declined sharply from the 1970s.
The catalyst for the introduction of substantial private sector housing in the city centre was the large investment programme discussed above. While Birmingham's potential for city centre living had been disadvantaged because of its poor urban fabric and associated perceptions, the physical and economic changes of recent years have begun to transform perceptions among residents and outsiders. The public investments and the Brindleyplace project enabled the city to overcome many obstacles by creating an attractive physical setting for many early residential developments and creating a climate of confidence in the city centre as a place for private investment. As a result, Birmingham had emerged by 2001 as the second most dynamic regional city centre residential market in England, as measured by new development and sales (Knight Frank, 2001, 2002).
The contemporary city centre private housing market was initiated by the development in 1995-1996 of Symphony Court, part of the Brindleyplace mixed use development. It was low density compared to later schemes, with extensive car parking and landscaping and gated access. These characteristics reflected the prevailing uncertainty at the time about the viability of the new market. However the development was fully sold by
128 completion and the potential of the city centre market was signaled by the rapid price appreciation a two-bedroom apartment originally sold for ₤112,000 was on the market for ₤237,000 in early 2001.
Despite the success of this development and a small number of others in the vicinity, the growth of new housing supply was slow to build. However the market has accelerated markedly since 1999 alongside the wider surge in city centre investment
. The expansion of city centre residential development is closely bound up with the broader revival and diversification of the city centre, and associated changes in the nature of work, demographic trends and the re-invigoration of urban lifestyles generally. The scale of new city centre development is highly significant in Birmingham's overall housing market. New dwelling completions for the entire city averaged just over 2,000 per year from 1996-2001, suggesting that the city centre may now be accounting for 30 per cent or more of the new supply being created in Birmingham. 129
City Centre Housing Development in Birmingham 1992-2003 Year Private Housing Association Shared Ownership Total 1992 36 36 1993 41 41 1994 55 55 1995 19 180 199 1996 231 25 256 1997 121 121 1998 82 35 117 1999 135 66 36 237 2000 151 108 269 2001 367 24 28 417 2002 534 39 573 2003 814 80 20 914 Total 2,333 942 84 3,359
Under construction 2,074 16 101 2,191 at April 2003
Source: Birmingham City Council, Planning Department; author survey
An analysis of Birmingham's city centre housing development highlights several key characteristics.
▪ Spatially, the development remains heavily concentrated in the areas surrounding the initial public projects and the subsequent private sector investment. These are the areas of highest development value with extensive canal frontages. The market has been very slow to spread into other parts of the enlarged city centre where supportive public interventions in the urban environment have not occurred
▪ The market is becoming increasingly dominated by private developers,
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the majority of which are national firms listed on the London stock market. This has implications for their financial requirements and the kind of housing that they are able and willing to build. Housing associations (Government-supported, non-profit organizations providing affordable housing for rent or shared ownership) were active in the early period of city centre housing development. However their ability to undertake viable schemes has been undermined by a sharp rise in city centre land prices since the mid-1990s.
▪ Finally, there has been a significant increase in the scale and density of new developments. The supply under construction at April 2003 includes six schemes of more than 100 units and between 10 and 20 storeys in height. This reflects an increased developer confidence in the demand for new homes but more significantly the rapid inflation in land values. There is a prevalence of apartment within the housing mix, with very few houses being constructed, and the trend is towards smaller units.
5. Characteristics of the new population
Recent research conducted for Birmingham policy makers (Blackaby et al, 2002) has explored the characteristics of the new population and some important dynamics of this new market. It involved discussions with public officials, developers and market intermediaries, as well as a postal questionnaire of city centre residents, in order to develop an understanding of the underlying patterns of residential growth and its implications for wider city development.
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A clear characteristic of the new population is its narrow base, being comprised disproportionately of young, professional households without children. Some 55 % of households contain one person (vs 36% for city as a whole), and more than 70% of residents are aged under 40. This population does appear to be closely linked to the growth of the city centre professional economy more than half of those in work did so in the city centre, and the purchase or rental prices of their homes suggests that the households are involved in professional or managerial occupations, a trend confirmed in discussions with market actors. There were very few households over 55 or with children, trailing far behind the city average in both respects.
A further characteristic is the somewhat unstable nature of this population. For nearly 20 per cent of residents, the city centre base is not their main or only home it either functions as a second home, typically used as a weekday base related to work, or it is occupied on a temporary basis in connection with an employment placement. There are no definitive figures, but discussions with agents in the market suggest that approximately 40% of all new units are acquired for investment purposes, many of them by companies for their own use as an alternative to hotels. The figure rises to more than 50% in some of the largest new developments.
Residents' motivations for moving to the city centre are dominated by two factors: proximity to city centre attractions and amenities such as shops, bars, restaurants and cultural activities; and proximity to the workplace. These are also the aspects that residents most enjoy about city living, re-inforcing the impression that the growth of this market in Birmingham is closely bound up
132 with the broader city centre revival and economic diversification.
A final critical issue is how the city centre market relates to wider patterns of residential development and housing markets in the city. It is clear from the research that city living does attract people to live in the city who might otherwise live beyond the city's boundary more than half of residents had considered only the city centre among Birmingham districts, and nearly 60 per cent had moved to city centre from outside the city. The availability of this new accommodation is therefore acting as a magnet to attract people from other popular city neighbourhoods but also from outside the city.
In addition, the research suggests that this new market may be helping to capture these new residents for Birmingham in the longer term after they move out of the city centre. Nearly 60 per cent said that their next move was likely to be to another part of the city, perhaps reflecting a continued desire to live in close proximity to the city centre workplace and amenities.
These findings suggest several important implications for the city and its restructuring ambitions. First, the new availability of housing in the city centre is beginning to re-shape people's housing decisions in a way that is favourable to the city and its economy. It contributes to a situation in which the proportion of middle and higher income earners both living and working in the city has increased. In effect the city centre housing is increasing the competitiveness of the city's housing market compared with that beyond its boundaries, by increasing the variety of opportunities and choices for middle and higher income groups. Second, it is not displacing people from other popular areas within the city but is adding to the overall housing
133 opportunities and residential base in Birmingham. It is therefore making a significant contribution to the city's objective of halting the out-migration of affluent households and the loss of young, skilled people that are critical to long-term economic revival.
The city living process is therefore delivering numerous benefits for Birmingham. In general terms, city policy makers have an interest in encouraging further development of this process. However, the research also highlights several problematic issues that could impact adversely upon its long-term sustainability.
6. Issues and Limitations
1) Price and Affordability of New Dwellings
A key issue to emerge since 2001 is the increasingly high value of the new housing supply. Sales levels for private homes are well above ₤200 per sq ft, with the average being closer to ₤250 per sq ft. In some major schemes, apartments with high specification have achieved ₤300 per sq ft. Specific values vary between sites, but these figures mean a typical 700 sq ft two bedroom apartment would sell for nearly ₤200,000 while a very small studio apartment of 380 sq ft would be about ₤95,000. These prices compare to the ₤85,000 average for non-detached dwellings in Birmingham.
There are several factors influencing the high values and their rapid increase as the market has expanded since 1998. The two most significant are land prices and construction costs. Land values for well-located city
134 centre sites have increased sharply in the past five years to around ₤3 million per acre, fuelled by the accelerating momentum of redevelopment generally and the significant rise in demand for residential use, which has become more profitable than office development in many areas. Construction costs are said to be inflated by a general shortage of skilled labour and the strong competition arising from a buoyant building sector, especially in central Birmingham. A further factor is the prevalence of large, national developers that must deliver high rates of return for institutional investors. A final, related issue is the ability, thus far, for these developers to sell successfully at the high values this reflects the aspirational nature of this emerging market and the role played by investment purchasers.
2) New Dimensions of Polarization
The high value nature of this new supply means the overall city centre residential population has quickly become polarized between those residents in expensive new homes, and those in the established public housing stock. There is a lack of new supply in the lower cost end of the private market, as a result of the factors discussed above. The new provision is limited in its price range, its dwelling types and sizes, aimed primarily at the young professional and investor purchasers.
These factors have led to a growing concern amongst all actors in the process, including public officials, developers, and agents, that there is a "middle market gap" in Birmingham city centre. A perception has emerged that significant numbers of potential homebuyers and tenants cannot afford most of the new private homes being developed in the city centre and are not
135 eligible for, or would not consider, social housing. Members of this excluded group include individuals and households engaged in moderate-income occupations (in the range of 15-25,000 per year), notably public sector employees such as teachers, nurses, fire and police officers. But its also includes people working for private firms in the creative industries and university graduates beginning their career in financial and professional services. Initial research into this issue has confirmed that there may be strong interest in city centre living among such groups, but there is a perceived lack of affordable opportunities in the marketplace. Further, it is clear from further analysis of households' buying power that single or double income households could not afford to purchase or rent most of the suitably sized private accommodation currently available in the citycentre market (Barber and Blackaby, 2003). This "middle market gap" has significant implications for the long-term sustainability of the city living trend and its wider impact on strategic priorities.
A further source of concern is the high rate of purchases by investors or companies. Individual or institutional investors typically buy homes early in the construction process (before a project is completed) and then resell the units at a profit as the scheme is completed, or rent them in the private letting market which is focused on the smaller, less expensive units that are most suited to weekday or pied a terre use. Companies are attracted to these apartments as an alternative to hotels for staff based in the city offices for short periods of time. These types of buyers are a significant source of demand, accounting for approximately 40 % of new sales, and play an important role in underpinning the flow of new developments and supporting
136 prices for new homes. This is thus a significant contributory factor in the emergence of the middle market gap explained above.
3) Sustainable Communities and Development
However, the investor market is also leading to concerns that a large amount of property for rent or in the corporate market may deter the growth of sustainable communities and a stable residential population of critical mass. The number of empty homes at any given time is not known, but discussions with public and private actors in the market indicate that vacancies associated with a more competitive letting market are becoming a concern. Further, a high proportion of private renting lends itself to housing a transient population rather than accommodating people with a long-term commitment to the area. If this share is too high, it can adversely affect the prospect for the maturing of the market and the development of community and social cohesion.
This trend also has implications for the development of community amenities and facilities that are critical to the emergence of a sustainable community in the city centre. Significant development of new housing since the late 1990s has yet to be paralleled by a corresponding provision of basic services such as supermarkets, convenience stores, health centres or pharmacies. It is argued that the high proportion of rented properties, second homes, and corporate uses is limiting the growth of demand for such services. Public officials and developers believe that providers will commit to supplying new services when and if a critical mass of population is present, but in reality this is emerging more slowly than may initially be assumed
137 from the amount of residential development that is occurring.
This is an important issue for the long-term growth and sustainability of the city centre housing market. The lack of amenities, and the limited opening hours of existing shops, are cited by residents as the most unsatisfactory aspect of city living (Blackaby et al, 2002). Discussions also suggest that the lack of community ambience and convenience is a deterrent to some potential residents, including those among the middle market groups highlighted earlier. Problems associated with the kind of housing being developed, the character of the new residential population and the wider community fabric are thus closely inter-related. It is becoming apparent that these issues need addressing if the long-term potential of city living is to be realized and mature, balanced communities are to emerge in the city centre.
7. Policy Gaps and the Need for a New Response
The benefits and limitations of the city living process discussed above have taken some time to emerge, as the market has only begun to mature and achieve a significant scale since 2001. But this initial research underlines that an important socio-spatial process of change is underway and that the form this is taking demands a new response from policy makers.
The policy framework for city living in Birmingham has been limited thus far to two general planning frameworks. The first is the City Centre Strategy published in the late 1980s, which outlined a spatial vision incorporating an outward expansion from the small central core into a series of distinctive quarters. This referred to residential development only in general terms. A
138 more recent supporting context is provided by the draft revised version of Birmingham's general planning strategy, the Unitary Development Plan, covering the years 2001-2011. This emphasizes the increasing role that the city centre can play in meeting Birmingham's housing needs, and strengthens the commitment to encouraging city centre housing that was contained in the preceding document produced in 1991. It sets a target of 10,000 new dwellings to be developed in the city centre by 2011, including a variety of housing types and sizes to meeting the needs of different types of households. This is to be achieved through the support of proposals for "urban villages", the inclusion of residential elements in the major mixed-use schemes and the development of appropriate sites as outlined in the individual quarter plans.
However, this p4lan relates to land use principles, and the recent policy framework has lacked any significant mechanisms to facilitate development or to manage the process as it gains momentum. City living was identified as a discrete planning policy issue in a 1997 report but this did not lead to any firm policy initiatives, despite a general enthusiasm for the process among city officials. Therefore, there remains a mismatch between the spatial character of the city living development and the institutional and policy architecture required to influence its progress.
Since 2002, however, city policy makers have made some initial moves to fill this gap. They have been motivated by a recognition that action is required if the cityliving process is to deliver long-term strategic benefits for Birmingham. In particular, the issues and limitations that are beginning to emerge present a threat to long-term growth and sustainability of city centre
139 housing. This, in turn, restricts the ability of city living to assist in the retention of young, skilled people who are essential to economic competitiveness. Finally, these limitations may undermine the capacity for city living to contribute to the positive restructuring of deprived, under-invested districts located immediately beyond the city centre.
The process of developing an appropriate policy response is just beginning but several key challenges and priorities have emerged from recent research:
Broaden and diversify the supply of new housing: the main concern is to encourage a wider range by price, type and size this includes low-cost private dwellings appropriate to the middle market, more innovative design and a greater proportion of larger homes, including townhouses. All of these factors are important in order to diversify the residential population. This has implications for partnership mechanisms, the role of housing associations and smaller private developers, and the application of an "affordable housing" policy through the planning approval process.
Facilitate the growth of a diverse neighbourhood infrastructure: this includes the provision of public and private services including food and convenience shopping, health services, basic amenities, as well as local public spaces and small scale leisure/cultural amenities; much of this is difficult for policy makers to influence directly, and it depends in good part on success of the previous priority; however there is also scope for the public sector to encourage this through engagement in the in land and property markets and a proactive planning approach at the scale of
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individual quarters.
Develop a spatial vision: identify the potential role that different sub-districts can play in facilitating the previous two priorities; variations in areas' physical fabric and economic functions could influence character of residential development; consider how to exploit these opportunities, overcome barriers, possibly through proactive intervention; this is key to encouraging broader range of residents and widening appeal more generally; it is also important to ensure relationship to the surrounding districts and the future of social housing estates is managed to best effect. This priority is particularly relevant in those districts- such as Eastside or the Bull Ring/Markets quarter that have not yet experienced significant residential development and could thus develop a complementary role to other parts of the city centre.
These three areas are closely inter-related but can be seen as the backbone of a distinctive holistic strategy for city centre housing.
8. Institutional and Spatial Connections
The lead role for developing a city living strategy lies with the city council but the nature of the challenge will require its to work closely with many other interests. Its role must be guided in the first instance by the characteristics of the city living process it is a dynamic, high density form of development overlapping strongly with complex city centre changes. These necessitate co-coordinated response at this spatial scale across several policy domains housing, planning, economic development, and transport. Such
141 co-ordination is essential in order to tackle effectively the challenges resulting from the close interaction between residential growth and other city centre functions and the policies that influence them. It also requires co-operation with public and private actors that are active at this scale, including retail/leisure operators and mainstream public services. The establishment in 2002 of a City Centre Living Forum - comprising relevant city officials, private and public developers, academics, service providers and residents - is a significant first step in developing a suitable institutional framework for this policy challenge.
It is also apparent from the research that future policy should integrate recognition of how city living relates to wider demographic changes in the city and region. One important dimension of this is the interaction with housing market changes throughout the city and its surroundings. The city council's strategic housing policy, produced in 2002, adopts a clear spatial approach by identifying nine distinct housing market areas, of which the city centre is one, and developing general priorities for each. This reflects recognition of the distinctiveness and importance of the city living market. However the research suggests that it is playing an important role in the changing patterns of household migration and future policy needs to develop more fully an understanding of how it relates to these at a sub-regional scale.
But a full and influential policy requires an important enabling role to be played by higher levels of administration, notably the regional development agency and central government. There are two significant challenges for these actors in this respect. First, it is to strengthen the role of major cities as
142 regional capitals and motors for their wider regional economies. More particularly, to support this with spatial policy interventions, notably in fields of economic development and transport that would strengthen the economic capacity of central districts and underpin the desirability of these areas as places to live, work and visit.
Second, to provide the city itself with the financial and legislative tools to make significant interventions to create the conditions for sustainable development and to achieve objectives. These relate to powers regarding raising and spending of local taxes and business rates; the purchase, use and sale of publicly owned land; participation in public/private ventures; and gap funding for important or difficult sites.
9. Conclusion
This paper has provided findings and analysis from new research into the growth of city centre residential development in Birmingham. The specific market dynamics may be unique to this city in some respects, but initial comparative research suggests that similar processes and challenges are evident in other major regional centres such as Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool. It is clear that city living in Birmingham, though still in its early stages, is delivering some significant benefits for the city but that the pattern and character of development raises important issues and concerns about its wider implications for regeneration. In particular, it is becoming apparent that this process of socio-spatial change requires an appropriate policy response and the development of a new institutional framework at this scale. Diversification, affordability, community fabric and spatial vision are some
143 of the key priorities that should be central to a new policy response. These are essential for two overriding reasons.
First, they are necessary in order to sustain growth and a maturing of this important new housing market. Second, they are important in order to manage some negative impacts including possible displacement of, or conflict with, surrounding residential communities. Displacement of existing communities has not yet occurred in Birmingham's city living process but the physical spread of new high value development into outer fringes of city centre means intervention will be required to ensure the process is harnessed to best effect.
It is clear from the early trajectory of the market and development processes that relying solely on the market forces will not be sufficient in order to exploit the full potential and avert negative consequences. The private sector has responded to emerging opportunities to initiate the process, creating numerous initial and potential benefits for the city. But realizing the potential means it will be necessary for public actors to shape future market conditions rather than simply react to them.
Birmingham is making a start in developing a suitable policy and the tools with which to apply it. The challenges of co-coordinating policies at the city centre scale and making links with actors at broader scales will be difficult given intensity of processes now underway. However, the effort will be necessary and worthwhile in order to exploit the full potential of city living to contribute to a sustainable urban revival in Birmingham and other major regional cities.
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Reference
Barber. A. and Blackaby, B. 2003. Filling the Gap: The Need for Middle Market Housing in Birmingham's City Centre. Birmingham: Centre for Urban and Regional Studies. Barber. A. 2002. Brindleyplace and the Regeneration of Birmingham's Convention Quarter. Birmingham: Argent Group. Barber. A. 2001. The ICC, Birmingham: A Catalyst for Urban Renaissance. Birmingham. Centre for Urban and Regional Studies. Birmingham City Council. 2001. The Birmingham Plan: Birmingham UDP Alterations and Environmental Appraisal Deposit Draft. Birmingham. Blackaby. B. Murie A. and Barber. A. 2002. City Living in Birmingham: An Independent Review. Birmingham: Birmingham City Pride. Champion, T. 2001. "Urbanization, Suburbanization, Counter-Urbanization and Re-Urbanization". in R. Paddison. ed., Handbook of Urban Studies. London: Sage Couch, C. 1999. "Housing Development in the City Centre". Planning Practice and Research 14(1). pp69-86. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. 2000. Our Towns and Cities, the Future: Delivering an Urban Renaissance. London. HMSO. Drivers. Jonas. 2000. Residential Development in Birmingham City Centre: An Overview. Birmingham: Drivers Jonas.
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Knight. Frank. 2002. The Birmingham Apartment Review 2002. Birmingham: Knight Frank. Knight. Frank. 2001. Birmingham Residential Property Review Winter 2001. Birmingham: Knight Frank. Madden. M., Popplewell. V. and Wray. V. 2001. City Centre Living as the Springboard for Regeneration? Some Lessons from Liverpool. Liverpool. University of Liverpool. Seo, J-K. 2002. "Re-Urbanisation in Regenerated Areas of Manchester and Glasgow", Cities 19(2). pp113-121. Smith, N. 1996. The New Urban Frontier: Gentrification and the Revanchist City. London: Routledge. Urban Task Force. 1999. Towards an Urban Renaissance. Andover, E &F Spon.
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Appendix 1 Housing regeneration area in Birmingham
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Appendix 2 Characteristics of Birmingham
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Appendix 3
Urban Renewal and Regeneration in UK and Korea
Workshop Programme Birmingham, 7th ~ 11th of July, 2003
Hosted by The Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, the University of Birmingham in association with the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements and the Korea Housing Institute
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FIRST DAY, MONDAY JULY 7, 2003
9:00 Welcome and introductions
Porf Alan Murie, Head of School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham
Dr. Chul Koh, President, Korea Housing Institute
9:45 Background to the programme of collaboration between CURS, University of Birmingham and KRIHS, KHI and the MOCT, Government of Korea and introduction to the workshop
Chris Watson / CURS
9:50 Placing clearance and regeneration programmes in Britain in context: Housing strategies and the local housing market
John Downie/ Urban Renewal Officer/ Housing Department/ Birmingham City Council
10:30 A Study on the Designation Process of Housing Development Project and Residential Environment Improvement Project in Korea
Dr. Jung-Geun Ahn / KNHC
11:15 coffee break
11:30 Introduction to the residential clearance process in Britain: the various stages of the process
Bob Ferris/ Environmental Health Officer/ Housing Department/ Birmingham City Council
12:30 lunch
13:30 Study tour Study tour of various housing sites and programmes in Birmingham
16:00 Return to Lucas House
18:30 dinner at Chung Ying Garden Restaurant, Birmingham city centre
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SECOND DAY, TUESDAY JULY 8, 2003
9:30 departure from Lucas house for St Peter’s college by bus
10:00 Key stages in the clearance process in Britain I: The Neighbourhood Renewal Assessment (NRA)
Bob Ferris/ Environmental Health Officer /Housing Department/ Birmingham City Council
10:45 Key stages II: The Local Public Enquiry
Bob Ferris, Steve Bentley/ Environmental Health Officer/ Housing Department/ Birmingham City Council
11:15 coffee break
11:30 Key stages III: Local Rehousing strategies
Steve Bentley
12:30 lunch at St Peter’s College
13:30 Study tour Study visit to clearance areas in Saltley, East Birmingham and Lozells, North-West Birmingham
16:30 Return to Lucas House
18:30 dinner at Boot Inn, Lapworth in the Warwickshire countryside
THIRD DAY, WEDNESDAY JULY 9, 2003
9:15 Resettlement Rates in Residential Environment Improvement Project
Dr. Mina Kang/ KRIHS
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10:00 coffee break
10:15 Study tour City Centre Regeneration: walking tour of part of the city central area of Birmingham currently undergoing a major programme of regeneration (including housing)
Stephen Hall, Austin Barber / CURS
12:15 lunch at Orange Studio Restaurant
13:00 Tour Warwick Castle
16:00 Return to Lucas House
18:00 Reception by the Deputy Lord Mayor of the City of Birmingham in the Lord Mayor’s Suite, The council House, Birmingham
FOURTH DAY, THURSDAY JULY 10, 2003
10:00 Castle Vale Housing Action Trust, Castle Vale, Birmingham: Background to the HAT
Chris Buchanan/ Corporate Strategy Manager/ Castle Vale HAT
11:00 coffee break
11:15 Regenerating Castle Vale: the physical, social and economic programmes
Chris Buchanan/ Corporate Strategy Manager/ Castle Vale HAT
12:15 ‘Regenerating Urban Communities’: a collaborative programme between the HAT, the residents of Castle Vale and the School of Public Policy, University of Birmingham
Mike Beazley/ CURS
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12:30 lunch
13:00 Study tour Tour of the neighbourhood Castle Vale
15:00 A summary of the key lessons for implementing a neighbourhood regeneration programme
Chris Buchanan/ Corporate Strategy Manager/ Castle Vale HAT
15:30 Final question and answer session
16:00 Return to Lucas House
19:30 Reception at Hornton Grange
FIFTH DAY, FRIDAY JULY 11, 2003
9:30 An Assessment and policy Directions for Residential Improvement Programme
Dr. Chul Koh/ KHI, Dr. Hwan-Yong Park/ Kyunwon Uniersity
10:30 Highlighting the differences in clearance and redevelopment programmes between Korea and Britain
Rick Groves and Shinwon Kyung/ CURS
11:15 coffee break
11:30 Possibilities for future co-operation and collaboration between CURS, KRIHS and KHI
12:25 Farewells
12:30 lunch
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