Regeneration

Successive Governments have specifically targeted regeneration as a vital area of investment over the past ten years. This investment has had a significant impact on society; it has transformed communities, towns, and cities. However, there is still a wealth of focus and investment needed in order to extend opportunity and raise aspirations in places that have not yet benefited from this investment. Regeneration can help tackle poverty within communities thus enabling cities, towns and societies to reach their potential thus improving the lives of those living in and around them.

The Government has made a commitment to build 3 million new homes by 2020 and has also recently pledged to establish 10 eco-towns each consisting of between 10,000 to 20,000 homes. Affordable housing has now moved further up the political agenda than at any other time since the 1960s, which will have considerable implications for the regeneration sector for which housing is a central factor. This renewed focus on regeneration also fuels the development of new retail outlets and commercial office developments which also have a positive impact on employment levels.

The Government alone spends over £4 billion annually on regeneration and housing projects across the UK and over £2.8 billion of private sector investment has been attracted into regeneration since 2001. There are currently over 100 renewal projects with values over £30m taking place in the UK, with total estimated build costs of more than £87 billion.

The regeneration development pipeline suggests a trend towards more mixed-use development, which has implications for house builders, contractors and developers. The successful players currently operating in the regeneration sector are now seeking to integrate and operate within a highly-mixed development environment, by offering a broad range of skills across a wide range of construction sectors such as residential, commercial, leisure and public sector, as well as undertaking specialist schemes. Further growth in the regeneration sector is forecast for 2008-10. Supported by public sector funds and partners, regeneration projects are seen as less vulnerable in a weakening construction market than speculative and purely private sector developments.