The rush to raise housing numbers is having an adverse effect on employment land, which could stifle regional economic growth say two leading property experts.
Peter Leaver, planning director at JLL, and Rupert Young, development director at Nurton Developments, are in agreement that since housing rose to the top of the political agenda insufficient regard has been given to releasing land suitable for employment use. The result they say is that pent up demand for large manufacturing and logistics units in the region is not being fulfilled and occupiers may well decide to look elsewhere.
“All the obvious sites with access to the transport networks are being allocated for housing,” says Peter Leaver. Pointing out the damage that this could have on the regional economy, Rupert Young adds: “It’s right to allocate land for large urban extensions, but where are these people’s jobs going to be located? We also need employment land to be released to attract potential employers.
“Stock is at an all time low. Over 5 million square foot was taken up in the region in 2015 and the current land supply will only last a further 2-3 years. There is now real appetite for speculative development, but the sites aren’t coming forward through planning quickly enough. To build a 500,000 sq ft shed you need a regularly shaped site of at least 25 acres. Occupiers such as JLR, Amazon and the larger retailers may look for one million sq ft opportunities. There simply isn’t the land available. Most of the well-located brownfield sites have already been developed. The only real option now is to release large strategic sites from the Green Belt and, save one notable exception (i.e. Peddimore), local councils are very reluctant to do this, due to both local and national political agendas.”
Peter Leaver considers there is an important legislative contex: “Since the regional spatial strategies were abolished, there is nothing beyond the local plan to ensure larger scale sites in the right location will be brought forward for employment use. The Duty to Co-operate, which is meant to help councils plan on a more strategic basis, has not really worked yet for strategic employment land. The conclusion of reports which have been commissioned by bodies such as LEPs to identify ways to address the imbalance between demand and supply have simply been ignored.”
Peter continued: “There is no strategic imperative from Government when it comes to planning for strategic employment land. This should be a role for the new West Midlands Combined Authority. The deal with the Treasury, however, does not confer planning powers. This is a real opportunity missed.”
Rupert adds: “Some councils say, “build on the smaller infill sites”, but quite simply the cost of building smaller sites is prohibitive, they just don’t stack up. It’s more efficient to build large sheds and much of the demand is from 24/7 logistic operators and manufacturers who want to carry out their work without impediment, or complaints from local residents about lorries going in and out of the site.”
It’s not just about getting enough land for one occupier states Peter: “These operators want to be part of a more significant scheme and close to other companies. Councils have got to think big and fast to maintain the region’s economic competitiveness. Land needs to be identified and the time given to masterplan and develop these new pockets of employment growth before land runs out completely and we miss out to other regions, or other countries, who have applied more joined up thinking.”