HCA still hoping to use inherited sites to boost economy
LAND bought up by former regional development agencies still has role to play in kick-starting local economies, according to the chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency.
Pat Ritchie insists that while some assets had been sold on, the body is willing to take a long-term view on how it could help regional development,
When the Coalition Government closed regional development agencies, including Advantage West Midlands (AWM), the bulk of their land assets were transferred to the HCA.
The move triggered speculation that the properties could be sold off quickly to raise Government funds but Ritchie stressed the HCA’s priority is finding ways of using the land to help fuel growth.
“Some of the sites may be disposed of more quickly than others because this isn’t about the public sector holding onto sites, it’s about making sure we can get developers, the private sector, to either take on the sites in joint ventures or to purchase the sites, to drive their use forward,” she said.
“The key is to get private sector partners in to really use the land to support economies.”
The HCA took over hundreds of plots of land, including key sites from AWM, which had typically been acquired to try and kick-start redevelopment schemes.
Ritchie said: “We’ve been going through the detail of what we inherited from each of the RDAs to look at what’s closer to market, what we might need to take a longer view and what we need to dispose of more quickly.
“A lot depends on the market cycle. We are a large national organisation so we can take a longer term view on some sites because some sites that at the moment may not be economically viable, depending on how they are linked to further economic strategies and the development of the economy, over time they may become more viable.
“There are some that are quite close to development anyway where there is a likely private sector and we need to get on with those and use the income to support other sites in the future.”
Development schemes the HCA inherited from AWM include Icknield Port Loop and land at Longbridge in Birmingham, the former car plant at Browns Lane in Coventry and Walsall Waterfront.
