Developers, individuals and communities only have a short time left (13 March 2021) to submit their responses to the government's consultation on a "right to regenerate"
If you missed the government publication earlier in the year, the below is a re-cap of the right to generate and its key proposals.
Background
In an attempt to make better use of available public sector land the government wants to offer opportunities for individuals, developers and communities to purchase unused or underused land from public bodies. The proposal intends to make public sector land more easily obtainable given the ever growing need for new homes and community spaces.
The right is not an entirely new one but a relaunch of the existing "right to contest" which, although has been in place since 2014, has resulted in only 192 requests made and 1 actual transfer. The proposed relaunch seeks to create more efficiency and transparency to the existing right.
The revamped right will only apply to land owned by local authorities, Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police Authority, with land owned by central government not being included in the new proposal.
Key Proposals
The key proposals are as follows:
- Establishing that disposals will be ordered unless public bodies can justify otherwise. This introduces a presumption in favour of disposal.
- Introducing a 'right of first refusal' for parties that make the request for disposal, allowing communities time to raise the finances to make the purchase should they wish to do so; this would usually be for market value and for a limited time. Following expiry of the time limit the land would be placed on the open market.
- Incentivising temporary uses by public bodies by ordering sales where temporary uses cannot be identified. This would be a significant move away from the current position where requests can be refused if the public body indicates that it has an intended use for the land, leading to land remaining unused for significant periods of time.
The consultation also seeks views on whether conditions should be attached to disposals of land (for example, the sale must be to someone with the intention to develop) and if so, what conditions would be appropriate.
The Real Deal?
There is no doubt the right to regenerate has the potential to unlock exciting projects that may not have previously been available, benefitting businesses, individuals and communities in the process as the government seeks to deliver on its promise to increase housing supply and development in key areas. However, the true benefit of the changes can only really be assessed once we know more about the detail and regulation around the disposals. In any case, the opportunity for an interested party to share their views and potentially shape the future in this area is one not to be missed.
You can share your views here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/right-to-regenerate-reform-of-the-right-to-contest/right-to-regenerate-reform-of-the-right-to-contest
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