On Monday, Emma Peters, Director at RegenFirst, gave a talk on regeneration. Emma started with an introduction to regeneration, explaining the historic changes in policy and their implications. Click here to download the PPT presentation.
Emma explained terms of housing finance such as CIL, S106, Housing Grants and cross subsidy.
She presented two regeneration projects to which RegenFirst has contributed: Grahame Park Funding Gap and developing an HRA Business Plan for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
As a conclusion, Emma Peters stated what could make regeneration work better in the future:
- Housing is a sound capital investment (across all tenures)
- Profits can be made and can be reinvested
- Ideology, not economics, is preventing solutions
- A stable regulatory environment is required
- Design should be managed at local level
- Delivery may be best managed at national/regional level
- With long term financial planning, local priorities can be met, including:
- Good design
- Locally affordable rents
- Fair equity stakes for leaseholders
- A right to return
Questions from the room included:
- Why regeneration is equal to estate renewal in the popular mind?
- How could the shortage of housing impact London’s economy?
- What part does design play in regeneration?
More on this subject:
About the economic impact of London’s housing crisis:
Moving out: how London’s housing shortage is threatening the capital’s competitiveness
Building a new deal for London: final report of the London Housing Commission
A planning, housing and regeneration professional, Emma Peters has been a consultant since 2011, building on a highly successful career in Local Government in London. This included posts at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (2004-2008) and the London Borough of Croydon (2008-2011). A professional town planner by background, her consultancy experience includes work with local authorities, registered providers and the private sector. Click here to access Emma Peters’s more in-depth profile.