Mayoral candidates have ignored property sector, claims JLL boss

ONE of Birmingham’s best-known property professionals says he is disappointed by the failure of any would-be Mayor to engage with the city’s development community during the referendum campaign.

Jan Thompson, Jones Lang LaSalle’s Midlands chairman, says he is particularly dismayed at the lack of engagement given that the council’s Big City Plan initiative had succeeded in bringing together both public and private sectors.

The referendum on a city mayor is to be held tomorrow and if there is a yes vote the election will be in November.

“We’ve worked very closely with the local authority on property issues, since Clive Dutton was here and subsequently with Waheed Nazir and Mark Barrow, and we know just how committed they are to driving regeneration forward,” Thompson said.

“Given the scale of the Big City Plan, and its critical importance to Birmingham’s economy, it is baffling that no candidate has sought the views of the property community on that initiative, or other major development issues, such as the future of the Digbeth markets, or Icknield Port Loop.

“Although no-one yet know what powers a mayor might have, it would seem logical that they could have a profound influence on the city, but property professionals have so far been distanced from the debate.”

Thompson is in favour of the mayoral concept and believes most of his peers share his view, not least to help raise Birmingham’s profile and to champion inward investment to enable mothballed projects to be brought forward.

However, he suggests that unless the candidates genuinely engage with the property sector that such schemes are likely to face further delays – to the detriment of the city‘s recovery from recession.

“Property agencies, advisers, architects and developers are major employers in the Greater Birmingham area, and have invested a great deal in the city’s dramatic renaissance since the dog-days of the late-‘80s, often together with the public sector,” he said.

“However, unless the candidates realise that there is more to making a difference than simply making speeches, I fear this will be a lost opportunity for the city, because other regional cities will take greater advantage of the process, and of the new mayoral roles.”