A housing market renewal pathfinder is planning to ensure that the community benefits from the rising property and land values stimulated by pathfinder investment.
It will do so by setting up community land trusts– vehicles that have a variety of stakeholders which generally include the council, a private developer and community representatives.

The board of the Birmingham and Sandwell pathfinder – set to get £2.66m in government seed funding – will look at possible areas for the trusts. It will work with New Deal for the Communities partnerships already operating within its boundaries.

A spokesman for the pathfinder said: "There has been a surge in property prices just outside the pathfinder boundary. As part of our 'quick wins' strategy, we want to secure any opportunities that arise out of property or land price increases for the community. We have identified priority areas in the NDC programme areas of Greets Green in Sandwell and Aston New Deal in Birmingham."

At the board's December meeting, a progress report will be presented with a view to encouraging the involvement of housing associations and deciding on the precise areas to run the pilots.

The group is also looking at a number of innovative means of involving the private sector, including institutional funds. The spokesman said the pathfinder hoped to "leverage bigger money from pension funds" and was commissioning consultants to explore how this could be done.

Derek Long, housing association sector lead on the government's market restructuring team, said: "Pathfinders and the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister are considering the involvement of lenders beyond the traditional housing association market."

"Some of the jobs aren't traditional housing association lending, as this is a new form of urban regeneration. If there is a role for the pension funds then that is fine."

Source

Housing Today