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Government plans to boost development have been welcomed by commercial property agency prop-search.com.
The recently issued White Paper entitled ‘Local Growth: realising every place’s potential’ sets out the Government’s role in empowering locally driven growth, encouraging business investment and promoting economic development. It details plans which will provide incentives for Local Authorities to encourage new development, thus creating new employment opportunities and boosting local economies.
Simon Toseland, a Director of prop-search.com said: "The incentive to Councils will see them handed a greater share of national business rates - believed to be up to 80%. This would encourage Local authorities to consent planning applications for developments that have a real chance of being built and give them a reward for approving positive development plans that would generate economic activity and create new jobs."
"However, as development has pretty much ground to a halt, we need these incentives in place as quickly as possible, and to be introduced in a flexible way so that schemes can be funded from a variety of different sources, including the private sector."
The White Paper also provides welcomed clarification on a number of Government policies, including the working of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) - following the earlier announcement that the eight Regional Development Agencies are to be abolished. The LEPs will be formed by local business and civic leaders and their remit will be diverse depending on local need; they will participate in planning policy, working on job creation and co-ordinating approaches to leverage funding from the private sector.
A Regional Growth Fund will also be created that will centrally hold £1.4 billion to be distributed between April 2011 and April 2014. Its main objective will be to stimulate enterprise by providing support for projects and programmes with significant potential for economic growth and to create additional sustainable private sector employment.
Simon Toseland added: "It will be possible for the private sector, public-private partnerships and suitably constituted LEPs to submit bids for a share of this pot. This is as long as the proposals fit with the economic priorities of the area, provide value for money and a coherent commercial narrative that details any risks and how they could be mitigated."
The White Paper has also set out details of a ‘New Homes Bonus’. From April 2011 for every new house built, the Government will match the council tax raised on each property for a period of six years. It is also expected that Local Authorities will have control over how this additional money is spent.
Further information can be obtained from prop-search - Tel: 01933 223300 or www.prop-search.com