THIS WEEK

• SPECIAL REPORT: New Towns and nutrient neutrality. Labour and Conservatives float planning reforms. Are they worth your time?

FLUSHING OUT PLANNING REFORM

New Towns and nutrient neutrality

Both the Conservative government and Labour opposition are floating potential ways to mend what pretty much everyone agrees is a broken planning system.

You can tell a general election is coming: this week Labour was trailing a return of New Towns, the Conservatives took a swing at restrictive nutrient neutrality rules, and both were mulling the merits (or otherwise) of a switch towards a zoning/permitted development rights planning system. Let’s start with the controversial stuff.

New Towns encore

A call for more New Towns has a nice, decisive ring to it, recalling the era of post-war growth and optimism. Plus most people know what a New Town is – hiya Warrington, Skelmersdale, and Peterlee. Better still, since many will assume it means all the housing they don’t want on their own doorstep will go somewhere else miles away, it allows politicians and the public to be pro-housing without committing themselves to anything they might not like – so it’s brilliant politics.

Missed target

But is it a good idea? Kevin Logan’s team at Maccreanor Lavington is advising on Birkenhead’s rethink and the masterplan for Manchester’s Red Bank. He thinks intensification is a better idea. “My view is, we need to be actively building back into our towns and cities, utilising intensification and compact urban growth approaches. We need to prioritise existing communities, augmenting them with considered growth, which would bring vitality, social, and economic opportunities, and deliver the resources that are needed,” he says. “We need to stop now building on greenfield or the countryside – this space is crucially required for the growth of ecology, biodiversity and resilience. We need to wild the hell out of the countryside, and grow communities and their ecologies within their existing urbanity.”

Time consuming

Or try this. “New Towns rarely work – they can too easily become large soulless areas of residential development. We would be better directing policy and funds towards intervention in existing towns and cities,” says Kate Pix, regeneration director at Kajima Europe, currently at work in Rochdale and Knowsley.

Hugely expensive, very complicated to deliver, requiring masses of political commitment over several parliaments, diverting money and attention from existing run-down towns, and maybe not universally successful first time ’round – Subplot didn’t find anyone in the Northern planning or property world who thought the New Town idea had legs. Feel free to add your comments below the line.

Applause

However, what people did like was Labour apparently thinking hard about the planning system. “At least it shows a direction of travel from a potential new government that planning is a serious matter to be grappled with,” says Colliers head of planning Anthony Aitken. He adds that you could achieve much the same with urban extensions to existing towns, a proper five-year housing target, a review of Green Belt, and a rule requiring councils to keep their local strategic plans up to date. All of that is said to be in Labour’s mind too.

And the Conservatives?

Relaxing nutrient neutrality rules is regarded as an easy win. Developers say the rules have held up plans for 92 houses in a single scheme in Carlisle, and the government reckons in total up to 100,000 houses could have been stalled or stopped. To recap: EU rules dating from 1992 required planners to think about the impact of nitrates and phosphates created by new development (meaning fertilisers on land, and effluent from your toilets). Everything was fine until 2018 when the European Court re-interpreted this to mean if there was any risk of a bad outcome, you couldn’t do it. Soon afterwards Natural England issued guidance that amounted to a moratorium on new building, and here we are today. Labour doesn’t seem to object.

Removing the gold plate

Ministers have tabled amendments to the Levelling Up Bill to take us back to where we were before the gold-plating began. “Nobody is saying nutrient issues aren’t important, but no one concern can stand above everything else. There has to be some clever thinking here,” says Harry Bolton, senior director and planning lead at CBRE Manchester. According to Colliers’ Aitken the real issue here is not property or planning, but the investment strategy and funding model of the water companies. Developers are caught in the crossfire with environmentalists.

Day Zero

Maybe a much bigger planning reset is required? Centre for Cities is among those promoting the idea of a zoning system, as used in much of the rest of the world. There is serious interest from politicians, particularly Northern Labour ones such as Stretford and Urmston MP (and former Trafford Council Leader) Andrew Western.

PDR with knobs on

It works like permitted development rights: each zone allows you automatic permission if you tick all the right boxes. The government writes the rules for what a zone allows, and councils prepare a map of which zones go where. After that, planning is simply about fitting the right building into the right zone. Simple, predictable, uncontroversial – at least, that’s the idea.

Coherent thinking

The big win is that you have genuine spatial planning, which means housing and jobs can be fitted into transport infrastructure, health, the lot. Anthony Breach, senior analyst at Centre for Cities, laughs genially at the idea that this is a return to 1960s central economic planning, but doesn’t exactly say it isn’t.

“Local plans today… don’t really think about the relationship of development with infrastructure and transport. But you could merge zoning in with local transport plans,” he says. “Zoning is more like how the rest of the world does planning…planning [in England] is a huge barrier to deliver whatever politicians want to do – from NHS reform, to carbon emissions, to disparities in income… and there’s now greater intellectual grasp of the need for reform.”

Not so keen

Politicians and policy wonks may like this idea, but the property business not so much. CBRE’s Bolton says the idea is “treating the symptom, not the cause, which is that planning has been chronically underfunded and just waving a wand or simplifying won’t help.” He also suspects zoning is solving a problem that doesn’t exist: compliant schemes being stopped. “A beige scheme, which is absolutely compliant with the rules, is going to be fine under zoning– but they tend to sail through the planning system as it is at the moment anyway.”

Hard cases

Suppose you want to build a storey higher than the zone allows, or go a few hundred yards outside a zone boundary, how does a zoning system cope with that? “Developers will always test the feasibility of what’s on offer, and it’s right that they should,” Bolton says. He suggests you could deal with this by having tightly written rules, with few exceptions, but thinks that won’t erase the tension. According to Breach if developers push the envelope in a zoning system then the local council would likely have discretion, as they do today – so we’re back to square one.

Never stop fighting

And then there’s the courts. If angry residents can’t win their case in front of the local planning committee, they won’t just roll over. They will fight it in the courts, a tendency that has increased as the English planning system has become more systematic and rules-based. “It’s a fact we’ve seen a huge amount more litigation over the last few decades,” says Bolton. Once again, we’re back to the uncertainty and time-consuming processes of today’s system.

All hail the new document

The most significant imminent change may have gone unnoticed, and is in the Levelling Up Bill already: newly minted National Development Management Policies will be important. These will be practical what-to-do versions of the high ideas found in the National Planning Policy Framework, and in effect instructions to local councils about exactly what gets built. NDMPs are to be read alongside (and count ahead of) local plans. The idea represents a potentially massive centralisation of planning policy, not entirely unlike zoning. “NDMPs will simplify planning considerably, they could be quite beneficial and unlock development effectively,” Breach says.

Get your act together

But what everyone wants is for the politicians to sort themselves out on planning. A cross-party consensus would be nice. Says Kajima’s Pix: “You can’t ask politicians to take the politics out of development, but we do need longer-term approaches that consider legacy as well as instant electoral returns. Development cycles and political cycles do not run concurrently and therefore on long-term projects, just when some momentum is being achieved a change in personnel or policy can immediately scupper this, which can add years onto when communities can expect to receive the desired benefits.”

The post The Subplot | Nutrients and New Towns appeared first on Place North West.

The world of facilities management is undergoing a transformative shift as businesses adapt to the demands of climate change and evolving working conditions. In this rapidly changing landscape, technology has become the key to driving performance and achieving sustainability goals in the real estate sector.

However, the choice of technology has often posed challenges.

Incumbent players in the FM tech space are usually from tech conglomerates whose offerings span multiple markets with one product that caters to facility management. These products are typically built to solve very defined problems, like recording maintenance logs, generating work orders, or managing purchase orders.

While this may have worked perfectly in the past, the needs of buildings, the assets they house, and the occupants they serve, are dynamic and fast-evolving today. Technology that is rigid, and solves FM needs in silos, creates more bottlenecks, blind spots, and friction.

To overcome these obstacles and unlock true business value from FM, the industry is now seeking holistic, domain-specific solutions that can keep pace with and enable seamless scalability for a fast-changing real estate and facilities space.

Breaking down the complexities: Challenges of legacy systems

Legacy systems have long been the backbone of facility management, but they often fall short in meeting the changing needs of the industry. Let’s explore the key challenges faced by facility managers and how technology can address them effectively.

Lack of visibility into portfolio operations

Built for maintenance and asset management with a technician-only focus, legacy systems often lack the ability to provide a holistic view of building performance, resulting in blind spots and dissociation between functions and processes.

Many other aspects of facility management – including vendor management, tenant engagement, inventory management, building maintenance, and others – are left outside the computerised maintenance management system, forcing operations and management teams to manage them manually or with multiple other solutions.

As a consequence, most stakeholders are left with no insight, visibility, or access to the information they need from their buildings.

Data overload and poor analysis

Facilities generate vast amounts of data related to energy consumption, utility usage, asset performance, and more. However, analyzing and extracting meaningful insights from this data can be challenging.

To derive actionable insights, data from building systems, people, and processes need to be extracted and normalized on one platform to enable analysis in different contexts.

However, legacy systems are usually rigid, and don’t interoperate with other systems. Working with such large amounts of data manually on a daily basis is impractical and very prone to errors, hindering efficiency and productivity.

Proliferation of point solutions

The past few years have witnessed an influx of point solutions addressing specific use cases in facilities management.

While these solutions may offer value individually, they often create inefficiencies and increase spending on subscriptions and workforce training. In fact, 74% of O&M leaders revealed interoperability as the top frustration from past smart building deployments.

All these tools work in silos and simply don’t speak to each other.

A blueprint of the CMMS FMs need today

The very purpose of technology in O&M is to make processes simpler, faster, more efficient, and to provide insights to help teams operate. Legacy systems make work more tedious and complex while delivering fewer of the benefits originally envisioned.

What FMs today need to unleash the true potential of their facilities, is a unified software platform that accommodates their unique needs, adjusts to the evolving needs of buildings and its occupants, and scales seamlessly as the business grows.

Let’s explore the key features of a customizable, flexible, and scalable solution.

Holistic visibility through a single pane of glass

Large commercial real estate portfolios, especially ones with facilities across locations, are very challenging to manage centrally.

An ideal solution is vendor-agnostic and interoperates with all the different systems, by-passing vendor data-lock-ins to consolidate all O&M data on one platform. It provides FM operators real-time performance data directly from their assets and buildings, enabling proactive maintenance at a portfolio level.

Data-Informed decision making

FMs make many decisions daily that have a direct impact on both day-to-day operations and long-term operational success. Without data to support their decisions, they’re shooting in the dark.

The ideal system, powered by Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, enable FMs to create a more democratic approach to balance control and accessibility for multiple stakeholders including vendors and contractors by integrating external processes like reporting, mobile apps into the platform.

A system of action

Through seamless integrations, the ideal solution establishes bi-directional communication with building systems and enables automation for workflows, approvals, replenishing inventory, initiating set-point corrections for operational anomalies, creating and assigning work orders based on operating conditions of assets, adjusting HVAC based on outside weather conditions and occupations, and much more.

This ability transforms the traditional CMMS, a system of records for maintenance and asset information, into a system of action, enabling proactivity. Predictive maintenance finally becomes possible.

Translating value for markets

Platforms are a game-changer for property operations. First and foremost, they can be incredibly flexible and embrace integrations, which enables quick implementation. An intuitive interface makes onboarding simple for all stakeholders to sign in and get started.

Automation capabilities make deploying new strategies easy as flipping a switch on and off. Setting benchmarks and comparing them against building/asset performance helps adjust strategies to optimize operations at a portfolio scale to accelerate time to value to only weeks from deployment.

A centralized platform also allows for the seamless scaling of new programs and processes, enabling organizations to adapt to changing needs and make agile response a norm. Armed with real-time and intuitive insights, O&M and leadership teams can make informed decisions and drive operational success.

While there could be resistance and scepticism around revisiting existing technology, thanks to the arduous implementation experiences and high costs of legacy systems, it’s only by moving away from outdated systems that FMs can fully harvest the benefits of technology and uplift the stature of the FM practice.

As the industry matures and sophisticated solutions become available in the market, now is the time for facility managers to reassess their existing technology investments and embark on a transformative journey to stay ahead of the curve, steer towards operational excellence, and deliver exceptional experiences to occupants.

• Prabhu Ramachandran is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Facilio

The post Laying the brickwork for modern, innovative building operations appeared first on Place North West.

THIS WEEK

• Redeveloping listed buildings: your worst nightmare, maybe?
• Elevator pitch: your weekly rundown of who and what is going up, and who is heading the other way

ALL THE CROOKED HOUSES

Listed buildings can be a nightmare to redevelop

The fire, then sudden demolition, of the Crooked House pub in South Staffordshire hit the press during a sleepy August news cycle. The case dramatises some real problems with repurposing historic buildings.

The Crooked House pub is no more. It wasn’t in a conservation area, wasn’t listed, and (although planning consultants disagree about this) the owners may not have needed consent to knock it down. But whatever emerges about the Crooked House (police say they are investigating) the episode casts light on the way planning law controls historic buildings.

Thousands of them

This matters in the North: Leeds has roughly 3,300 listed buildings; York 1,500, Liverpool 2,500; Bradford 2,400; Sheffield 1,100; Newcastle 1,000; Manchester 890 (depending on how you count them). The repurposing of Manchester’s 500,000 sq ft grade two-listed Debenhams is among the largest current projects, but there are dozens. The consensus is that the listed buildings control system is a nightmare – slow, uncertain, likely to be expensive. Any disagreement is about whether, or how, that could change for the better.

Relax

The biggest problem, according to everybody, is approaching a listed building with a rigid format, fixed ideas, and an enthusiasm for value engineering. This will lead to disaster.

“You [owners] need an open mind about your vision, be flexible with expectations, understand the building, because listed buildings will have challenges which may present in the form of less development opportunities than you imagined there would be,” says Andrew Burns, director at specialist consultancy Atelier MB in Manchester.

Understand the building and its history before doing anything is the motto, he says. “If you don’t appreciate what you’ve got, you bought the wrong building.”

Talk first

The best way to ensure success is to do your research, then talk to the heritage bodies early, and seriously. Jamie Wolstenholme is a development manager at Trilogy Real Estate, now tackling the enormous complexity of Manchester’s £213m Great Northern Goods Warehouse project. He says: “Working with listed buildings is almost always more challenging from a technical point of view. How difficult it is to then refurbish, adapt or alter that building for ongoing use really depends on the approach of the local planning authority and Historic England. Getting them on board with your development plans early and engaging in two-way conversations is key.”

Money, of course

And it all costs money, not least because the VAT regime punishes refurbishment, and retrofitting to the latest sustainability standards is potentially a massive (unaffordable) cost. When the unexpected happens – and in listed buildings, the unexpected is expected – it means headaches.

“We’re really challenged by the current VAT regime, which subsidises new-build over refurbishment and is in need of reform,” says Wolstenholme.

“Similarly, all the sustainability accreditations don’t really take into account the inherent sustainability of re-using listed buildings. It’s incredibly challenging to get the thermal and energy performance of listed buildings up to new-build standards. We could do it, but it would result in decisions that were unacceptable from a heritage perspective,” he says.

All fall down

The system feels a bit broken to many landlords and developers. They will be pleased to know that heritage bodies pretty much agree.

Catherine Croft is director of the Twentieth Century Society, the statutory consultee on modern listed buildings. She says the system is too slow, due to limited local council resources, but adds: “Too often conservation officers are junior, and that causes problems, and have no support or anyone much to talk things through with. And if you are worried about whether an application damages a building the easiest thing for a conservation officer to say is ‘No’.

“It takes more confidence or experience to negotiate a compromise,” she says. “But, increasingly, conservation officers will have to do this because improving the thermal and environmental performance of listed buildings will require more negotiation.”

You could go to prison

There’s also a major niggle about enforcement, which the Crooked House incident (fairly or unfairly) dramatised. Too often it feels like some owners play by the rules (however slow and expensive that is) and others don’t, but the lawless bunch get away with it. This saps confidence. “There should be better enforcement. There isn’t enough penalty for getting it wrong. If people think they can get away with it, they will,” says Burns.

“You need an efficient and fair deterrent, and I don’t think the enforcement system is working at all well at the moment,” says Crofts.

Others disagree: “Maybe that’s what people think but there are real risks to working unconsented on listed buildings, it’s not straightforward to get away with it – and once found out, it’s even more costly,” says Savills’ planning director Jeremy Hinds.

Happy endings

The trick, if there is one, is to love your listed building and want the best for it. But if the love isn’t there, or the listed consent process wears owners down, what happens next? Maybe look across the border to Wales for a vision of the future. Just two months ago the Historic Environment (Wales) Act 2023 received royal assent. Section 109 allows the owners of listed buildings to insist the Welsh government buys them out if listed building consent is refused, or approved with conditions, if the refusal or conditions mean the building is unusable.

Maybe not workable

This is a quid pro quo for a fairly demanding set of requirements for listed buildings, but extending this to England doesn’t appeal to Savills’ Hinds. “Interesting, but probably ineffective,” is his conclusion, thanks to notions like “viable” and “usable”. This kind of government intervention may also do unpredictable things to pricing, he suggests. Better to let the market sort it out.

­ELEVATOR PITCH

Going up, or going down? This week’s movers

Fancy financing makes its way into social housing, which could open up new developments, while hotel data suggests development will focus on London.

Social housing is the new BTR

A straw blows in on the wind from the West Country. Big-name investors have been taking a keen interest in social housing with the hope it could be the beds sector’s Next Big Thing.

Now, in a first for the social housing sector, recouponing has released £50m from an original £100m private placement with Legal & General Investment Management’s Private Credit team, agreed in 2020 with specialist developer Bromford. The fund and the developer have been working together since 2012, so remember there’s a background of trust. Even so, the move indicates that serious money is being made, and some of the fancier tools of development finance are being deployed in an effort to get around high interest rates.

The deal opens the door to another 12,000 energy-efficient affordable homes by 2031. The hope is that Bromford/LGIM’s move sets a precedent for the North’s largest social housing businesses, among them names like Manchester-based Great Places.

Hotel sector gets complicated

Tracking the revival of the hotel sector is one of Subplot’s preoccupations (see 22 June and 29 June). It’s been a massive growth sector for the region’s property business – many big projects hinge on a hotel anchor tenant. Will it be so significant in 2024?

More data arrives suggesting regional hotels are improving faster than London hotels. Knight Frank (quoting HotStats) says London hotels achieved an occupancy rate of 82% in June 2023, a rise of 3.2 percentage points year-on-year, while hotels outside the capital recorded growth of four percentage points to almost 81% occupancy versus 2022. This still isn’t high enough, so operators are pushing up room rates, recording 8.5% and 7.6% average daily rate growth respectively in June. This is helping push up inflation.

That said, London hotels still make more money. In London, gross operating profit per available room rose 42% in the first of 2023 compared to the same period last year. In the regions, the rise was just 16%. This is going to skew operators’ decisions – particularly since the London market is less price-sensitive. So the return of the hotel building boom may be postponed.

The post The Subplot | Crooked House lessons, hotels, social housing appeared first on Place North West.

Set on 4.8 acres of brownfield off Elizabeth Street, Trade City Manchester will comprise nine units of sizes between 3,800 sq ft and 23,500 sq ft.

Kier Property, alongside partner Investec, is aiming to make the Fletcher-Rae-designed warehouses energy efficient, achieving an EPC A rating and BREEAM Excellent score.

Groundworks are underway on the site, which meant there was not a lot to see when Place visited. However, in talking with Kier development director Henry Martin, we were able to envision what the £27.5m end result would look like.

You can watch our interview with Henry and see both the site as it stands now and what it will look like next year, by viewing the video at the top of this article. You can also find the video on the Place North West YouTube channel.

Want to learn more about Trade City Manchester? Visit tradeandlogistics.co.uk. You can also get in touch with the scheme’s joint agents: CBRE’s Paul Cook and Colliers’ John Sullivan.

The post VIDEO | Take an early look at Kier’s £27.5m Trade City Manchester appeared first on Place North West.

THIS WEEK

• The doubtful future of the 400-store Wilko discount chain poses a challenge to Northern high streets. But there is hope
• Elevator pitch: your weekly rundown of who and what is going up, and who is heading the other way

WILKO LESSONS

A bad time for high streets just got worse

Wilko’s woes place a question mark over 2.5m sq ft of Northern retail floorspace. With retail still on its knees, and a cost-of-living crisis beginning to bite, does anyone want it?

Four bidders (probably) met yesterday’s deadline to acquire Wilko and its 400 UK stores (around 100 of them in the North). B&M, Poundland, Home Bargains, and The Range were reported to be in the frame. It’s hard to believe – given the location of their own stores – that any potential owner will want to keep all Wilko stores open. Maybe all of them will close.

Numbers, please

Some facts. The average Wilko store size is 25,000 sq ft, and about four-fifths is on the high street or in shopping centres and precincts. About one-fifth of the Northern portfolio is in retail parks, according to CoStar data. The impression is that most leases are relatively short-dated: five years or 10 years with a break at five, and a few at 15.

The good stuff

The focus of interest will be out-of-town. “The floorspace within retail parks is likely to attract the strongest interest from other retailers. However, the remainder of shops are on high streets and in shopping centres, where footfall has tended to be lower, and units previously occupied by the likes of Debenhams or Arcadia brands have taken longer to re-let,” Giles Tebbitts, CoStar Group’s director of market analytics in Manchester, tells Subplot.

Woolworths revisited

As for the 2m sq ft of Northern high street floorspace, there are two recent precedents for large-scale retail collapse. Debenhams folded in 2021. Since then, many of its stores – well located, big, interesting – have been repurposed at pace. Manchester’s Art Deco block is the star example of a long list which includes leisure, build-to-rent housing, and much else. Woolworths, which fell down a well in 2008, saw 807 stores repurposed or re-let but a lot more slowly. “This may be more like Woolworths than Debenhams,” says Allsop’s head of commercial investment Richard Brooke.

The difficult cases

A fairish chunk of that floorspace won’t lend itself to repurposing. “Every asset is different, of course, and where Wilko had a multi-floor building it could lend itself to residential or student housing. But the big floorplates in shopping centres will be harder. That said, Wilko is often well located in town centres or roadside, so there will be interest,” says Brooke.

Show time

So the Northern towns anchored by Wilko stores needn’t give up hope. A vision of the future is already visible in Rotherham, where the 20,000 sq ft store shut in 2022. Rotherham Council bought it (for a song) ahead of demolition. The replacement, a new theatre, sounds nice. Blackpool will be hoping for a similar performance. Wilko signed a 15-year lease on a 22,000 sq ft unit at the council’s Houndshill Shopping Centre (bought in 2019 for a lot more than a song – about £48m). The Wilko deal was part of a rethink for Houndshill.

We are watching

“Whilst the extent of [Wilko’s] insolvency procedure remains unclear, the successful delivery of the Phase 2 project at the Houndshill remains a top priority for the council, and we are in discussions with the tenant to ratify their long-term position within the town centre. We will then reassess our options as necessary,” said a council spokesperson when approached by Place North West earlier this month.

Curtains

Not many tears will be shed for the real losers: a handful of already weakened Northern landlords. If they already had high loan-to-value ratios, and were relying on Wilko rental (and covenant strength) to shore up their position with lenders, then the next few weeks could be the final straw. Loans will sink underwater, covenants will be breached. Today’s habit of virtually real-time portfolio valuations – quarterly, or more frequent – leaves stretched landlords with no way to smudge their balance sheet bothers. Lenders will notice. For some town centre landlords, Wilko’s woes will mean curtains.

ELEVATOR PITCH

Going up, or going down? This week’s movers

Subplot’s twin elevators are both rising smoothly to the good-view floors. Flex floorspace can make money after all, says a Leeds operator, while Liverpool’s Spine dodges a bullet.

Low-impact flex floorspace

Subplot reported last week that WeWork and IWG were struggling to make money from serviced flex workspace. Leeds has turned out to be a laboratory for an alternative approach whose operator insists it isn’t a struggle at all. Spacemade, which partners landlords to create their own branded offering, say it’s going like a dream. Co-founder Jonny Rosenblatt has been in touch to say occupancy at Park House, Leeds, fluctuates between 98%-100% and has done during the two years since opening. He wants to expand in Leeds.

“Until a year or so ago, there was an undersupply of well-managed flex space and this is a definite gap as we’re seeing a strong market of – particularly – young creative businesses coming to Leeds, possibly because the rents are that bit cheaper than London or some of the more established Northern cities like Manchester,” Rosenblatt says.

• Learn more about the state of the office market at Place North West’s Offices + Workspace conference on 11 October. Book tickets.

Spine dodges bullet

The Spine, a 155,000 sq ft of Liverpool City Council-backed office in Paddington Village, has had to take a certain amount of incoming fire. The latest was a Sunday drive-by on the state of the site showcasing graffiti, litter, untidy flower beds. The bigger problem has been 70,000 sq ft of stubbornly vacant floorspace.

That could be about to change. Subplot hears that a 34,000 sq ft letting is in prospect (and it’s not wealth manager Rathbones, in case you wondered). Sources nod and wink towards Cashplus Bank, which expanded into a full floor in May, but public sector/NHS occupiers are also fancied.

More deals will follow. One floor is being divided to provide smaller units. Another three floors – so 33,000 sq ft, give or take – is being fitted out to Cat A or Cat B standard, with rents starting at a shade under £24/sq ft.

The council continues to take a kicking for its approach to property investment and regeneration – see below-the-line comments on the latest effort to ginger up the narrative. But in 2016-2018, when the Spine idea was first brewing, everyone thought it was just the bold forward-thinking move Liverpool needed. Of course, if it had been built on Old Hall Street it would have been fully let long ago, but that’s another story. It’s hardly The Spine’s fault that the city centre new-build market is a mix of daydream and nightmare.

Cllr Nick Small, Liverpool’s cabinet member for growth and economy, confirms to Subplot: “The recent flurry of stories highlighting problems at The Spine are well wide of the mark. The RCP is thriving, as is its award-winning event space. All of the serviced space managed by Sciontec is full – with a number of customers planning to expand -– and of the remaining floors, three are in legals and three are being fitted out to meet current market trends.”

The post The Subplot | Wilko lessons, Liverpool’s Spine, flex makes money appeared first on Place North West.

THIS WEEK

• Stuck on amber: Rail and road projects, including the long-awaited A66 dualling between Penrith and Scotch Corner, are at risk of failure
• Elevator pitch: your weekly rundown of who and what is going up, and who is heading the other way

STUCK ON AMBER

Big transport projects are waiting at the lights

The infrastructure investments that could open up the North’s economy and property markets are going nowhere fast.

Monday marked a big moment for Northern transport. Seven years after government said it truly meant to dual the A66 between the M6 at Penrith, and the A1M at Scotch Corner, an inspector submitted the relevant paperwork to the secretary of state. He has until 7 November to make up his mind. The road hasn’t been touched since the 1970s, and is one of the busiest freight routes in the land. In short, it matters.

Green is good

Will it be the green light in November? Green didn’t feature heavily in the recent analysis of the £1.4bn project’s prospects filed by the Infrastructure & Projects Authority. The IPA has been tracking progress since 2020/2021, at which point civil servants reckoned the road expansion was on track. By 2021/2022 things were sliding and today it is rated as “amber.” This means “successful delivery appears feasible but significant issues already exist, requiring management attention. These appear resolvable at this stage and, if addressed promptly, should not present a cost/schedule overrun.”

Funny name

The A66 dualling project is a trial run for an initiative called Project Speed – clue in the name – which is meant to halve the time big road schemes take to complete. So far it’s potholes not roadblocks slowing things down, such as the Planning Inspectorate refusing to rubber stamp a route realignment around Warcop, on the Cumbria side (the inspectorate will announce a final decision on 29 August), and Costain pulling out of a four-way contractor arrangement for the scheme with Balfour Beatty, Keltbray, and Kier.

And the floorspace?

Uncertainty hasn’t helped the spin-off commercial property prospects that the improved A66 ought to deliver. Scotch Corner would make a sensible place for big sheds – the 2012-2028 Richmondshire Plan said so – but there’s nothing much to see by way of progress since. The plan – written years ago – woefully noted: “Although well located for both the A1 and A66, only a small amount of employment development has taken place at Scotch Corner. Planning permission was first granted for a major seven-hectare employment development next to Scotch Corner 20 years ago and remains a planning commitment, but development has not yet started.” That said, a designer village is in progress (opening next year) as is a 107,000 sq ft shed providing 37 units. So, something, but not a major logistics hub.

Turning orange

The A66 upgrade is one of an embarrassingly large number of major Northern infrastructure schemes rated as amber or red by the IPA. Ready? The East Coast Digital Programme, which will improve rail signalling from Grantham South, has had three consecutive years in the amber category. The East Coast Main Line Enhancement Programme, an effort to increase capacity and reduce journey times, scored a green in 2018/2019 and has been amber ever since.

Or red

And more: electrification of the Midland Mainline from Wigston to Sheffield
and Nottingham (MML3) is also in its second year of amber while HS2 phase 2a (Birmingham to Crewe) has moved smoothly from green to bright red. Red means “successful delivery of the project appears to be unachievable. There are major issues with project definition, schedule, budget, quality and/or benefits delivery, which at this stage do not appear to be manageable or resolvable. The project may need re-scoping and/or its overall viability reassessed.”

Too much amber

And more: Phase 2b (Crewe to Manchester) is doing slightly better, and is stuck on amber, along with Northern Powerhouse Rail and the Transpennine Route Upgrade, both on amber for the last three years. The last is the low-fat version of a high-speed rail line including electrification, new track, digital signals, and increased opportunity for freight between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds, and York.

­ELEVATOR PITCH

Going up, or going down? This week’s movers

Flexible workspace remains a loss-maker; science property is in the midst of a massive chemical reaction. Stand by for one, or the other, to vanish in a puff of smoke. Doors closing, going down!

Laboratories

The scramble to capture Manchester’s science, tech, and life science occupiers just got serious. Kadans Science Partner, the Dutch sci-tech floorspace giant, has submitted a detailed planning application for a life science building on the former Citroen dealership in Upper Brook Street, part of Manchester’s university district. Kadans Science Partner and McLaren are gunning for 215,000 sq ft of laboratories and 740 student beds in a 23-storey block.

Next door, Property Alliance and Moda are looking at 470,000 sq ft of life science accommodation and 1,100 student beds. Up the road at the former UMIST campus, Bruntwood SciTech and the University of Manchester are getting their planning ducks in a row ahead of a 4m sq ft development.

Demand for labs is said to be good, and growing, and nobody is quaking at the prospect of so much floorspace in what is still an experiment in a novel property sector. But as with any chemical experiment, getting the mix right will be everything.

WeWork woes

Is anybody making any money from providing flexible serviced workspace? Despite the good vibes, and a post-pandemic boost, big names are still taking a hit. This week US-based giant WeWork declared “substantial doubt exists about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” This followed a 4% increase in revenue but a stonking increase in quarterly losses, up from £234m to £311m. Membership also dropped back. The firm has four offices in Manchester (and 50 in London) and says it needs to see cheaper rental deals.

It was the same story over at IWG. Revenues at the Regus and Spaces operator were up 16% to £1.7bn, but profit was unchanged (there wasn’t any, pre-tax) because costs went up. It has plenty of debt, the cost of which turned an H1 operating profit of £90m into a pre-tax loss of £70m.

Analysts reckon IWG will move into profit before too long, but optimism in the flexible workspace world seems to come a lot easier than a reliable surplus of income over costs.

The post The Subplot | Infrastructure woes, flexspace, laboratories appeared first on Place North West.

Participants

• Craig Anderson, director of smart energy and sustainability at Hydrock
• Bec Bennett, assistant director of sustainability at the University of Salford
• Chris Bowie-Hill, director of innovation delivery at Hydrock
• Helen Cutts, head of sustainability at the University of Central Lancashire
• Alex Edwards, sustainability director at Bruntwood
• Heather Evans, national head of sustainability at Rider Levett Bucknall
• Sunny Johal, development director at Glenbrook
• Aleksandra Przydrozna, associate director at Mace
• Sheldon Walsh, partner at Ryder Architecture
• Chaired by Julia Hatmaker, editor of Place North West

Key talking points

There is no ignoring that if the UK is going to meet its net zero targets then the country needs to get serious about retrofit. While the need for improving existing estates is clearly evident, it can still be a hard sale for investors and portfolio holders.

This is where data comes in, according to roundtable participants who pointed out that if you take the time to measure and examine energy usage, space utilisation, backlog maintenance, fire safety compliance, etc. then retrofitting becomes the best-case scenario.

That data can also inform a decarbonisation strategy, pointing out where the problem spots are and helping you target those areas.

The discussion also focused on best practices for retrofitting. The necessity of having a clear brief was mentioned repeatedly. Having every team member on board with the project’s goals right from the very beginning can save time and, ultimately, money.

Appointing sustainability consultants and engineers early on in the design process was another top tip shared by the roundtable, while others highlighted the importance of fabric-first design.

All the participants agreed that sharing information on what worked and what didn’t work on a retrofit project would do a lot to helping the industry better enact decarbonisation strategies.

You can hear highlights from the roundtable in the video at the top of this article, as well as on the Place North West YouTube channel. Learn more about Hydrock at hydrock.com.

The post VIDEO | Best practice for decarbonising real estate portfolios appeared first on Place North West.

THIS WEEK

• Tech trauma: is the tide coming back in for the tech sector? There are signs it might be
• Elevator pitch: your weekly rundown of who and what is going up, and who is heading the other way

TECHIES HEART MORE DESKS

Is the tech sector finished with sacking people?

… because if the meltdown is over, it probably means they will be back in the office market. A massive Manchester requirement seems to prove it.

Apple, Alphabet, Palantir, Meta, X, the firm that runs Slack – tech giants have been laying off staff, thousands of them. Smaller firms (OneWeb, Zepz, Deliveroo, Luno) have also let plenty of people go. This follows a giddy hiring spree – some of it to meet pandemic market needs – which left them vulnerable as the economy reshaped. The meltdown took a major player out of UK property markets. Some big names – Facebook, Google, Slack – off-loaded large chunks of floorspace, while others – Amazon, Microsoft – put property plans on hold.

Big problem?

Let’s not get this out of proportion. According to the most-used list of tech job layoffs, so far this year about 11,500 have gone in the UK, all but about 500 in London, the rest in Birmingham, Bristol, and Edinburgh. Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool (home to a thriving gaming sector) aren’t on the list at all – zilch, nada – meaning either the list isn’t comprehensive, or the three cities’ tech sectors are hanging on to staff. So far Google is still in Peter House in Manchester and Amazon is expanding into its base at NOMA. So the global giant vibe is good.

Tide turns

Among the smaller tech businesses, the surge in lay-offs over the winter seems to be easing: recruitment consultancy Robert Walters says the public sector, banking, and finance are recruiting tech again, with overall tech vacancies up 10% in May and 26% in June. These are London figures but it’s the same in Northern cities. “I’d say we’re up 25% on the start of the year,” says Leif Radford at Manchester specialist recruiter The Candidate. “Financial services and agencies are big growth areas – agencies because some still haven’t the confidence to recruit full-time, so buy in skills from agencies.”

What this means for property

In short, the tide is turning, with banking and finance getting wet first. “It was a quiet winter for the tech sector, and I think it’s going to stay like that for the next six months,” CBRE’s senior director and Northern tech property specialist, Joe Rigby, tells Subplot. “But the office market generally has been propped up by the professional, banking, and finance sector and that’s true for tech, too. Banks are really important to tech demand because they are chasing talent in the city, trying to hoover it up. Towards the end of 2023, and into 2024, tech employers will take a sterner view on working from home, adjust to redundancies, and be back out looking. So, next six to 12 months, they will be back in the property market.”

For example

Keep your eyes on Bank of New York Mellon, which has a massive tech operation in Manchester and a requirement for 200,000 sq ft (up from 150,000 sq ft). Lease events in 2023 and 2026 mean things are brewing for the US giant which does a lot of its tech in the North, and is said to plan an awful lot more. Bruntwood SciTech’s 267,000 sq ft No3 Circle Square completes in 2025, which is excellent timing. Circle Square is already home to Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Roku, Uber’s Autocab, Accenture, Northcoders, and Xero.

Also for example

Total Manchester tech-linked requirements are around 500,000 sq ft and maybe half as much again in Leeds and Liverpool. According to Robert Walters’ data, shared exclusively with Subplot: 18% of all new tech roles advertised come from companies in the North, up from 13% in 2022. So it’s not an over-heated imagination, there’s really something going on.

The Candidate’s Leif Radford points out that with tech employers no longer as willing (or able) to compete on wages, which are often eye-watering anyway, the focus of the battle for talent has moved decisively to terms (flexible working) and the quality of the workplace. Landlords and property developers, take note ahead of 2024.

ELEVATOR PITCH

Going up, or going down? This week’s movers

Leeds’ office market presses penthouse and rockets up; plans to rethink Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens plunge down to the loading bay. Doors closing!

Piccadilly Gardens

There must be massive sighs of relief at West8, Planit-IE, and Studio Egret West. Their good fortune is to lose out in a competition to redesign Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens. Poor old LDA Design, the current preferred contractor, won.

Pity the winner, because the £25m redesign, due to reach planners next year, is a nightmare waiting to happen. A perfectly nice rose garden was removed to make way for de-humanising concrete between 2001 and 2003, and since then it’s been all downhill. The rose garden went because of anti-social behaviour, allegedly, and various further rethinks have fallen foul of variations on the same complaint. Recent iterations left the gardens feeling less like an oasis of calm, and more like the ideal location for public executions.

The connecting thread is that this is a high-footfall, high-inclusivity environment and yet nobody wants to pay the daily cost of patrolling and keeping it nice. Hence each time it’s rethought the answer is a low-maintenance area that soon gets trashed. Until the bus station is moved, and someone agrees to pay for proper upkeep and security, all redesigns, however thoughtful, will go the same way.

Leeds offices

More evidence that Manchester’s pre-eminence as the Northern office market du jour is under threat. This time last month Birmingham’s first-half office take-up seemed to be growing at a time when Manchester was stagnating (or sliding backwards) (Subplot, 13 July). Now Leeds joins the party.

The city racked up 146,000 sq ft of city centre deals in Q2, taking the H1 total to 413,000 sq ft. This was up 53% year-on-year. A reminder that central Manchester scored 390,000 sq ft in H1, and is generally a substantially larger market. Another straw in the wind.

The post The Subplot | Tech traumas, Leeds offices, lucky losers appeared first on Place North West.

So how do we unlock the potential of people, places, and partnerships to bring about meaningful change? That was the focus of this roundtable discussion, hosted by Place Capital Group.

Participants

• Caroline Baker, North West managing partner at Cushman & Wakefield
• Claire Griffiths, chief executive at Cobalt Housing
• Mark Howden, chief executive at Peaks & Plains Housing Trust
• Rob Loughenbury, director of strategy at Onward Homes
• Karen Mitchell, chief executive of Southway Housing Trust
• Kevin Ruth, chief executive of Together Housing Group
• Vicky Savage, group director of development and sales at L&Q
• David Smith-Milne, chief executive and founder of Place Capital Group
• Chaired by Julia Hatmaker, editor of Place North West 

Key talking points

Filmed just hours after Homes England’s announcement that it would expand its Affordable Housing Programme to include estate regeneration, the roundtable started out with reactions to the news.

Most were optimistic about the proposals, saying that this would bring in some much-needed funding that could make a real difference on housing estates. Others were concerned about the timeframe attached to the money with its start-on-site date of 31 March 2025.

That timeframe adds pressure, but it was agreed housing associations should not rush into any project. Time still needs to be spent on ensuring that the scheme is the right for the area and meets sustainability goals, it was agreed.

The funding programme will also only make a difference if it focuses on social rent, according to those at the discussion. Several of the housing association chief executives spoke about how great the demand is for that tenure and, while it is important to have mixed-tenure estates, if the programme involved removing social rent homes and replacing them with affordable rent properties it would be less effective.

You can hear highlights from the roundtable in the video at the top of this article, as well as on the Place North West YouTube channel. Learn more about Place Capital Group at placecapitalgroup.co.uk.

The post VIDEO | The key to renewing housing estates appeared first on Place North West.

THIS WEEK

• Unblocking the system: the government’s plans to improve capacity in the planning system win cautious praise
• Elevator pitch: your weekly rundown of who and what is going up, and who is heading the other way

PLANNING FOR TROUBLE

This week’s planning tweaks could be significant

Small but welcome changes could improve capacity in the planning system. But keep your fingers crossed.

Levelling up, housing, and communities secretary Michael Gove chose this week to make a series of announcements about property and economic growth. Some of them were risible – the idea that there are thousands of former chip shops ready, waiting, and perfect for residential conversion is for the birds. As Knight Frank quickly pointed out, even if the latest tweak to permitted development rights worked to its fullest, it can’t deliver more than a few hundred new homes when hundreds of thousands are what’s needed.

This way, please

So let’s forget the cold vegetables and turn to the red meat. This was about capacity in a planning system widely believed to be an overloaded, understaffed, public service that has reached, or exceeded, its ability to cope. On Tuesday, three documents appeared. The first was a response to a consultation on increasing planning fees, thus helping to pay for more planners. The second was on a second round of funding to help councils afford to deal with the largest nationally significant planning applications (“nationally significant” is a broader category than you might think). The third was a consultation on how big projects are assessed and approved. You have until September to respond.

Follow the money

The gist is: planning application fees go up by 35% for major applications and by 25% for householders. This still doesn’t cover the cost of handling an application.

Meanwhile, local authority resources have been falling steadily since 2015/2016, according to impartial House of Commons Library data. Council expenditure on planning fell by an average of 43% from 2009/2010 to 2020/2021, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute, but it was worse in the North.

The North East saw funding drop by 62%, Yorkshire by 49%, and the North West by 46%. So can we assume councils will still struggle to make up the difference? The government concludes “it is expected that the performance of local planning authorities will improve”.

Special pot

Maybe the gap can be plugged with grants from the second round of the funding to support nationally significant projects with their biodiversity and net zero carbon analysis? Councils are invited to apply to the Innovation and Capacity Fund for up to £100,000 each, or £350,000 if transport infrastructure is involved.

Fees rethink

Proposals to streamline the way nationally significant infrastructure applications are handled are mostly tinkering. Here, too, the exception is fee changes. Today, the Planning Inspectorate can only recover about 70% of its costs through fees. Changes involve allowing the inspectorate to charge closer to cost for pre-application advice and recalibrating the fees to match the work involved rather than (madly) the size of the local authority in whose area the scheme sits.

It’s a people problem

Will this make much difference? Not if it doesn’t tackle recruitment, says Public Practice, a social enterprise that helps local councils find the placemaking specialists they need but struggle to recruit. Almost 80% of local councils say they can’t get the staff these days.

“Through the wide amount of evidence-based research and the daily conversations we have with officers, we know there is a recruitment and capacity crisis affecting planning and placemaking departments across England,” says chief executive Pooja Agrawal.

The government’s capacity-growing proposals will help to an extent: it has put up £1.6m to fund a council-run scheme, Pathways to Planning, to recruit 150 graduates for local authority planning departments by 2025. The project launches in the autumn.

Let’s take a look

For a taste of early reactions to Tuesday’s announcements, take a trip to St Helens. The borough has a recently adopted and strongly pro-growth local plan involving Green Belt release and includes Marcol iSec’s 3m sq ft Strategic Rail Freight Interchange on a 300-acre site next to Junction 22 of the M6 (it is a nationally significant infrastructure project).

Can’t get the staff

St Helens head of planning, Kieran Birch, says recruitment is an issue, particularly for some specialisms like design and masterplanning. “We recently advertised a senior officer post and didn’t get any applicants we wanted to interview,” he tells Subplot. The temporary solution is to employ contractors, but that isn’t ideal. “We have some big sites and we want our own staff on them getting experience, upskilling – not a contractor,” he says.

But £££

The increase in planning fees could be good for St Helens, judging by the council’s analysis of potential income if the new fees had been chargeable over the past five years. “If it’s ring-fenced, and we use it correctly, we should be able to recruit permanently, and we will absolutely use the graduate Pathways to Planning scheme -fee income could fund permanent posts from that,” says Birch.

The £100,000 (or £350,000) grant for nationally significant schemes is interesting – but depends on how flexible it is. “It hinges on what we can use the money for,” says Birch.

The overall conclusion from St Helens is that the latest package is helpful – but in the end more money is the only answer. “Increasing fees helps now, the graduate scheme helps – these will both make a difference,” says Birch. “I think we’ve got a good record on performance, but I expect developers would be happy to pay higher fees if they get permission fast.”

What comes next? Some of the smartest names in planning have been discussing this with Place North. Watch a video of the roundtable discussion sponsored by Lexington.

­ELEVATOR PITCH

Going up, or going down? This week’s movers

This week, some old favourites are wheeled out for a little ride. The doors are opening for Green Belt development and coastal communities regeneration. Will they go up or down?

Good brownfield, bad Green Belt

Here we go again. Green Belt versus brownfield development is back in the headlines. Both major parties gave it an outing in recent days.

In a speech, housing secretary Michael Gove spoke of his plans for growth in 20 urban locations. “That is why we will enable brownfield development rather than Green Belt erosion, sustainable growth rather than suburban sprawl,” he said.

His Labour opposite number, Lisa Nandy, tried a variation on the theme by dividing Green Belt up into good and bad. She said she wanted “poor-quality” Green Belt land handed to new mayoral development corporations.

The Sunday Telegraph reported her saying Labour would “declassify the poor-quality parts, which currently aren’t very lucrative for developers but provide good sites for new housing.” This begs the question, why would housing be good on sites other developers think are unsuitable given every site needs pretty much the same things – power, access, drainage? Please feel free to add your thoughts below the line.

Whether you call it brownfield or bad Green Belt, the big issue neither mention is the problem of servicing the land – particularly providing electricity.

“We have several sites in the North West which benefit from planning consent and are development-ready,” says Jayne Hennessy, of Peel Natural Resources and Energy, part of Peel L&P.

“However, grid constraints and new points of connection remain a major issue in the delivery of these projects,” Hennessy continues. “Sites are being stalled due to distribution network operator’s requirements for network reinforcement costs to be borne by the developer, which typically run into the millions of pounds and can take up to five years, delaying the economic benefits of these sites being brought forward.”

Seaside town revival

Here we go again, again. This time it’s the seaside towns of the Lancashire, Cumbria, and Yorkshire and Durham/Northumberland coast and their quest for a viable future. Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared yesterday in a Sun splash, sitting in a café in Scarborough vowing to revive Britain’s coastal towns by changing business rates, cracking down on second homes, and boosting tourism. Great news, but maybe Reeves would like to take a quick glance at an analysis of lessons from the existing government’s £229m Coastal Communities Fund, published a few weeks ago. It is illuminating. Since 2012, the fund has backed 178 projects in England, the last £50m tranche in 2018 awarding £1.7m to Blackpool, £1m to Copeland, £1.3m to the County Durham Coast, £3.6m to Hoylake, and £2.5m to Whitehaven, among others.

The analysis is not happy reading: they treated every project – big or small – the same, Whitehall interfered too much, they didn’t think enough about how many people would benefit or how deprived an area was, they preferred to support new projects than existing ones which might limit impact, they didn’t define outcomes well or check money was being well spent, and the jobs and tourism figures are a bit iffy.

Thus: total extra tourism spend was estimated at £227m, which is spookily close to total funding, and on jobs – “projects not reporting any actual indirect job creation accounted for a further 5,730 forecast jobs” – which casts doubt on the forecasts, to say the least. The report suggests, charitably, that some of those jobs may have existed somehow but “lack of systematic evaluation” makes it hard to judge what really happened and the report concludes that if anyone does this again they “should consider ways to better support and assist projects, particularly small projects, to estimate their actual economic impact.”

The post The Subplot | Planning policy special appeared first on Place North West.

Katrina Davis is the head of communications for Civic Engineers, while Dino Moutsopoulos is the managing partner and head of commercial at Place North. Between them, they’ve delivered business development and marketing strategies for businesses in the music industry, the professional football world, and the NHS.

Delving into their decades of experience, the two share their insights into not only developing a great marketing playbook but also how to make the most out of events like MIPIM and UKREiiF and what the rise of AI means for the industry.

Listen to the podcast at the top of this page to hear their thoughts. If you want to learn more about how Place North can amplify your brand’s message, explore our media pack or get in touch with Dino directly by emailing dino@placenorth.co.uk or calling 07803 988112.

Don’t miss a single Place podcast episode. Subscribe to our series on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Stay up-to-date on the latest in the property industry by subscribing to our free newsletter, delivered to your inbox just in time for lunch every weekday. 

The post PODCAST | Marketing best practice for the property industry appeared first on Place North West.

Participants 

• Paul Boyfield, group head of property at Lexington 
• Rhiannon Thompson, director and head of built environment at Lexington 
• Rebecca Caines, senior director at Lichfields 
• Charlotte Leach, associate director of stakeholder engagement at Peel L&P 
• Jeremy Hinds, director at Savills 
• Samantha Campbell, head of planning at Liverpool City Council 
• Rob Haslam, regional head of planning at Harworth  
• Chaired by Dan Whelan, senior reporter Place North West 

Key talking points 

Public consultation is an increasingly important part of the planning process. However, at present, not enough people are engaging.  

Those who exercise their right to have a say on development proposals in their area are generally against them, according to the panellists. This can result in an unbalanced perception of a scheme. 

By holding digital consultations and keeping channels of communication open, developers can reach a wider audience, have more meaningful conversations, and, as a result, have a better chance of garnering support for their proposals. 

In addition, making productive use of data, artificial intelligence, and 3D modelling could all contribute towards a more streamlined and swifter planning system, according to the panel.

However, for the digitisation of the planning to be truly effective, processes must be standardised across the country to help make things easier and more efficient for users of the system, the panel said.

You can hear highlights from the roundtable in the video at the top of this article, as well as on the Place North West YouTube channel. Learn more about Lexington at www.lexcomm.co.uk.  

The post VIDEO | Creating a planning system fit for the future  appeared first on Place North West.

Participants

• Artur Grzybowski, innovation director at Salford Innovation Forum
• Derek Hales, lecturer in architecture at the University of Salford
• Laura Harper, digital, commerce, and creative partner at Lewis Silkin
• Anthony Hatton, innovation programme director at MediaCity Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub
• Stephen Kirk, head of asset management for MediaCity
• Nigel Moore, production director at Fuzzy Duck
• Audrey Peers, head of business development at MIDAS
• Adrian Toland, senior principal for innovation policy and strategy at Greater Manchester Combined Authority
• Matt Wall, technology, architectural, and cyber lead at Salford City Council
• Chaired by Paul Unger, publisher of Place North

Key talking points

Innovation hubs are meant to be the central point where new technologies emerge and businesses grow from a seed of an idea to a full-blown tree of success. So how do we craft spaces where businesses can come, learn, and grow?

This roundtable discussion, sponsored by MediaCity, looked into what occupiers, government, and landlords were after when it comes to crafting innovation hubs.

One of the key takeaways was the importance of location, having a place that was close to universities and that could pull in a diverse amount of talent. Because these spaces need to also function as recruitment tools, the importance of ESG, amenities, and community spirit cannot be overestimated.

Another aspect of a successful innovation hub was flexibility, with options for a business to scale up without having to move too far away.

MediaCity has become a base for immersive technology, including augmented reality that can be used in television media and architecture. The roundtable briefly discussed why this technology was so important – and how Greater Manchester is positioning itself as the world’s leader in this field.

You can hear highlights from the roundtable in the video at the top of this article, as well as on the Place North West YouTube channel. Learn more about MediaCity at mediacityuk.co.uk.

The post VIDEO | Crafting innovation hubs appeared first on Place North West.

Claire Locke is commercial director at VU.CITY. Credit: via VU.CITY

Artificial intelligence is taking the world by storm, with almost every industry seeing new tools being created seemingly overnight. The built environment is no different, writes Claire Locke of VU.CITY.

Generative AI is the new hot topic but with so many new tools and the rapid pace of technological growth, it can be hard to decide what tools actually merit investment.

Generative design is software that uses computer algorithms and artificial intelligence to design and create products and solutions. In the built environment, it is being used to generate and explore a vast number of design options on a specific site, evaluating their performance against specified criteria, and iteratively refining the designs to achieve desired outcomes.

We are already seeing generative design technology playing an increasing role in the built environment, with big names like Clarion Housing investing in this technology to help streamline their processes, speed up site feasibility studies, and save money on costly last-minute design changes.

Change in any industry should bring both caution and excitement in equal measures. It can disrupt an industry in both positive and negative ways. Deciding whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing depends on so many factors unique to every business and person. VU.CITY seeks to support positive changes in the built environment using cutting edge technology to visualise accurate data for faster and better decision making.

How is generative AI being used in the built environment right now?

VU.CITY has leaped into the world of AI with our generative design tool called SiteSolve. Our platform leverages the power of algorithms and computational modelling to automate and enhance the design process on sites. Users can input certain goals or constraints that the software will try and meet and respect, designing out the site based on these metrics.

Users can also explore a wide range of possible design solutions and configurations to find the ones that best meet their needs. The technology is helping developers understand the potential of a site, architects are exploring thousands of design options and local authorities are using it to understand site capacity across their borough.

Professionals in the built environment are using generative AI in lots of different ways, but we’ve put together the top trends that we have seen below:

1. Feasibility studies

Feasibility studies have traditionally taken quite some time. Sourcing, aggregating, analysing, and contextualising data at scale and in context is often impossible. With VU.CITY and SiteSolve, users can run feasibility studies in less than an hour. They can explore thousands of design options and configurations and quickly decide if a site is viable.

2. Identifying targets

We’ve seen customers that have specific targets for their project, e.g. whether the main target of the scheme is maximising south-facing apartments, maximising net area or efficiency, or a combination of criteria. SiteSolve will generate designs based on these inputs and allow you to save multiple ideas for the site.

3. Working with generative design

One of the most interesting trends that we’ve seen is that professionals have used SiteSolve as a starting point, allowing the software to generate multiple options and then the user can edit or tweak the design, so rather than being replaced by generative AI, they’re working with it to create designs.

4. In-depth analysis

Professionals are using SiteSolve is to carry out a number of different analyses. Some of the most popular analysis tools that have been used are the primary views function, embodied carbon estimations, and cost data.

While SiteSolve has been a great tool for many, we understand generative AI is not for everyone. Looking more generally, I’ve drawn up pros and cons to help you decide on whether to take the AI plunge.

Pros

1. Increased efficiency

Generative design can help architects and developers explore a large number of design options quickly and efficiently compared to manual design iterations

2. Scalability

It can facilitate the creation of large-scale masterplans that can be adapted to various sites, as the design criteria is updated in just a few clicks

3. Improved Creativity

Generative design can help architects and developers imagine new and innovative design possibilities that may not have been considered using traditional design methods. New ideas can also be explored by pushing boundaries in a safe, cost-effective, and risk-free way – letting you see if an idea works well before any spades are put into the ground.

4. Customisability

Even after the initial designs have been produced by SiteSolve, architects and developers can provide the human element and customise them to a specific brief or site, respecting the cultural context, aesthetic appeal and the local community.

5. Optimisation

Optimise designs for specific goals or objectives, such as efficiency, primary views, or maximising dual aspect apartments to name a few. By analysing vast amounts of data, every design iteration is more tailored to meet these objectives, resulting in more effective and efficient building proposals.

6. Improved collaboration

Collaboration is key to the success of a project. SiteSolve can help architects, developers, and stakeholders visualise design options and variations and communicate clearly in a way that everyone can understand.

7. Better decision-making

Data-driven insights can help inform the decision-making process. This can lead to more informed and effective design decisions that are made quicker and easier.

8. Accessibility

The simplicity of the tools opens up the doors of usability to all, not just technologically advanced individuals.

9. Cost saving

Time is money. If a tool can imitate the built environment in a digital sphere, it can forecast the risks associated with building costs, overshadowing, and environmental impacts. Speeding up the early stage of a project will ultimately save you money.

Cons

1. Maintenance to keep up with building regulations

The output can only be as good as the data it processes, right? If AI algorithms produce similar outputs, the designs could be limited in their flexibility if not constantly updated to keep up with the evolving building regulations.

2. Lack of transparency

The algorithms used by generative AI are complex. This could make it difficult for built environment professionals to understand how the technology has reached certain decisions.

3. Limited contextual understanding

Generative design algorithms operate based on predefined rules and parameters. They do not immediately understand qualitative site constraints, including social issues such as how to preserve existing communities that influence the design.

4. Cost

The adoption of new technology can be expensive. It can mean a significant investment in tech, training, and infrastructure.

5. Ethical considerations

There are huge ethical concerns around issues such as job displacement. Will generative AI take jobs away from humans? Not only that, will it put people off training for jobs in the built environment?

Now you’ve seen some insight into how Generative AI is currently being used and the pros and cons, do you think the pros outweigh the cons? Or vice versa? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

• Claire Locke is commercial director at VU.CITY

The post Generative AI in property – is it worth it? appeared first on Place North West.

Participants

• James Blakey, planning director at Moda
• Ed Britton, director at Deloitte
• Shannon Conway, residential director at Glenbrook
• Joanne Harding, local plans manager at Home Builders Federation
• Victoria Hunter, senior development manager at Far East Consortium
• Mark McNamee, managing director of Cityheart
• Darren Muir, director of planning at Pegasus
• Colin Muller, founder and chief executive of Muller Property Group
• Ellie Philcox, director at Euan Kellie Property Solutions
• Paul Smith, managing director of Strategic Land Group
• John Walker, head of UK and Europe real estate and infrastructure at C|T Group
• Anna Wrigglesworth, director at C|T Group
• Chaired by Dan Whelan, senior reporter at Place North West

Key talking points

The roundtable began with a presentation of survey results from strategic advisory company C|T Group, which asked voters in England their thoughts on what the term “Green Belt” means and how that impacts their feelings on building on land with that designation.

According to the survey, 69% of those asked felt Green Belt was solely aimed at protecting countryside and landscapes. However, when these same groups were presented with an accurate definition of the term, which also plays a role in preventing urban sprawl, feelings on development on Green Belt shifted.

Once it was clear it was not only about greenfield and could include brownfield sites, only 15% maintained a stance that no development should take place on Green Belt.

Those attending the roundtable agreed that the results made clear that more needed to be done to educate the public on the nuances of Green Belt. A rebrand of Green Belt was even suggested, given the name evokes the image of countryside more than, perhaps, it ought to.

The discussion was about more than just Green Belt, however. Time was also spent on best practices for consultation and how to drive support for a project.

Too much time is often spent on trying to convert those that oppose a scheme, it was argued. That time could be better spent on getting supporters engaged.

You can hear highlights from the roundtable in the video at the top of this article, as well as on the Place North West YouTube channel. Learn more about C|T Group at ctgroup.com.

The post VIDEO | Digging into the public perception of planning appeared first on Place North West.

THIS WEEK

• Teesside teaser: can a change in political power, and a new mayoral development corporation, begin to resolve Middlesbrough’s property problems?
• Elevator pitch: your weekly rundown of who and what is going up, and who is heading the other way

TEESSIDE TEASER

Muddlesbrough untangled?

There’s a genuine shortage of good office and industrial floorspace in Middlesbrough. Can new council leadership, and a new mayoral development corporation, cut through?

There’s a story to tell about Middlesbrough beyond the usual cliches about huge industrial facilities and lots of empty space (see local view above). Demand for new office and industrial floorspace is good – excellent, say some – and whilst volumes won’t blow your mind, it’s genuine and unmet. This is an opportunity, surely?

Nice little market

First, the good news. The commercial property market is back in business. Centre Square will create 200,000 sq ft of prime town centre offices in six buildings – two are complete so far. It’s the kind of space that local occupiers like AXA Insurance rather enjoy – having taken a 40,000 sq ft building, completed by Ashall Projects and funded by the Tees Valley Mayor and local council. In the industrial sector, Tees Advance Manufacturing Park’s 180,000 sq ft first phase has been scooping up tenants. The council is the main mover here along with the Tees Valley Mayor and partners including Cleveland Property Developments.

Supply issues

“TeesAMPS and Centre Square show commercial property can work. There’s limited supply and real demand,” says Dodds Brown senior partner Stephen Brown. Top office quoting rents are about £21.50/sq ft, which is £5/sq ft short of viability, give or take. Tees Valley Combined Authority figures show the supply of office space was down 10% between 2016 and 2021, during the permitted development rights period.

Unhappy

So what’s the problem? Whilst Middlesbrough Council has clearly pulled its regeneration weight, it has done so against an unsettled background. The council recently lost its chief executive in what amounted to a coup d’etat, and what’s left has been given a written warning by the government for wasting money and bad “cultural and governance” issues. The council has until January 2024 to show it can improve, otherwise, ministers will take matters into their own hands.

Cleaning the streets

A new Labour Mayor, Chris Cooke, backed by a new Labour council majority replaced the Independent/Conservative regime two months ago. They have a big job ahead.

The worry is about routine capacity and long-term vision. For instance, it’s dandy to build new offices but if the surrounding area isn’t maintained, and the town centre fails to thrive, then shiny new office blocks won’t stay full.

“Office occupiers need to know their car is safe,” as one bone-dry observer put it to Subplot. Put this another way: “What’s needed is a deliverable, sustainable plan to take things forward once building work is completed,” says Brown. His concern is that the focus is on residential at the expense of commercial use in the town centre, and the wrong mix could be damaging.

Opportunities

These concerns – and question marks over the future of council-owned retail assets the 400,000 sq ft Cleveland Centre and the 120,000 sq ft former House of Fraser department store – raise questions for investors or occupiers. When approached by Subplot, the council said it planned to continue to manage the (viable) shopping centre, and wanted to sell or let the department store. There are folk in the town who wonder if that’s good enough. The new development corporation strategy could put those fears to rest (see below).

Clarity needed

Problem two is HM Government’s plan for an investment zone in the town. It sounds promising, and everyone loves the idea, but as Subplot reported last week (13 July), the details of who gets what are still sketchy. It’s early days. For now, Subplot has heard tales of investors deciding to sit on their hands, and occupiers pausing requirements for Centre Square thinking that, if they wait, they’ll qualify for investment zone capital allowances or tax breaks. This is not ideal.

Two tribes

Behind these concerns sit doubts that the council and the new mayoral development corporation can work together. Middlesbrough Mayor Cooke and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen sail under different flags, and Middlesbrough Labour hasn’t been a massive enthusiast of Houchen’s corporation. The new MDC board – including Cooke and Houchen – met yesterday to consider strategy. You can read the full text here. Arup advised.

The new plan

Highlights include new digital and media properties in the Boho cluster (already prepping a 35,000 sq ft extension, as Place North East reported), and redevelopment of the ex-House of Fraser store, former Debenhams, and Civic Centre; a new school of art campus anchoring the Centre Square neighbourhood, and a historic quarter. It all sounds clean and bright and good.

Cold water

Where does this leave us? Subplot spoke to one of Yorkshire’s big regeneration brains, and an acknowledged development corporation expert.

“Politicians see a fashionable regeneration idea and they want to have it – but that’s the wrong way round,” the expert says. “The delivery vehicle has to follow the function, what you want. You have to know what you want. And it requires strong leadership, which goes beyond electoral cycles. I mean, if this were easy, it would already have been done.”

Could politics and the desire to deliver results quickly, in time for elections, screw up what might otherwise be an appealing and achievable town centre regeneration? As Stockport’s MDC shows (Subplot, 13 July), politics is often decisive for the success of development corporations. Middlesbrough has a big challenge ahead.

ELEVATOR PITCH

Going up, or going down? This week’s movers

Manchester’s Factory International plunges to the basement car park loaded with new borrowing. Levelling up money also goes missing somewhere near the ground floor. Doors closing, going down!

Factory International funding

Another £20m of Manchester City Council (borrowed) money gets tipped into the huge hole that is Factory International, mooted in 2014, now double its original 2017 budget of £110m, and still not finished. Covid was a pain, and rising inflation hasn’t helped, nor did a rush to have something ready for the 2023 Manchester International Festival. Why the rush? Because the project was already two (or four) years late.

A council report also blames the “complexity and uniqueness of the building.” Maybe somebody should have thought of this because concert halls are not uncommon, art galleries are pretty well understood, and complexity is an obvious cause of financial risk in any building. If all this complexity produced a stunning eye-catching landmark of global appeal then maybe it’d be worth it, but judging by below-the-line reactions to Place North West’s coverage, it hasn’t.

The big question all through has been: who is or was in charge of this monster (Subplot, 21 February 2021)? The latest council report lists five – five! – responsible senior officers, which maybe tells its own story. It isn’t very encouraging that the £330m Manchester Town Hall project is also heading into years of delay.

Towns fund, affordable housing, etc, etc

A footnote to last week’s update on HM Government’s investment zone plans. TL;DR if you were hoping the levelling up agenda would turn into a wonderful work stream, think again. Last week, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities returned £1.9bn of unspent 2022/23 funding, a large slug of which was meant to unlock affordable housing. Apparently, it can only be spent when the property market is doing well, which seems the exact reverse of how it ought to be, but who are we to judge the ways of Whitehall?

Whilst one spending pot atrophies, a couple more are in limbo. The £2.6bn UK Shared Prosperity Fund, intended to replace EU regional money, is moving glacially, and on a very modest scale. A list of grants awarded in June isn’t likely to cause a stir or spread much prosperity – could Liverpool City Region contain its excitement at getting £1.4m? – and the whole idea seems to be on ice.

The Towns Fund got off to a flying start but has since landed heavily. A second round of funding isn’t looking likely. The website died in late 2021.

The post The Subplot | Muddlesbrough untangled, Towns Fund, Manchester arts appeared first on Place North West.

The recent rise of OpenAI and its product ChatGPT presents a transformative opportunity to truly revolutionise help desk support within the industry. By seamlessly integrating AI-powered software into property management solutions, companies can harness the power of artificial intelligence to automate inquiries, provide instant resolutions, and deliver personalised interactions.

The traditional help desk model faces inherent challenges such as the difficulty of recruiting individuals with the right skill set and expertise. The challenge also lies in enhancing the efficiency of help desk operations and staff, therefore empowering them to focus on more business-critical tasks. Thus, highlighting the need for a transformative solution to overcome these challenges.

Tangible benefits and impressive numbers

The benefits of the OpenAI integration extend beyond efficiency gains. Rapid and cost-effective ticket resolution enable workspaces and property managers to allocate resources more efficiently, leading to exponential improvements in operational efficiencies. Furthermore, the integration ensures 24/7 availability, providing uninterrupted support to customers regardless of their time zones.

The advanced AI algorithms utilised by OpenAI deliver intelligent accuracy, ensuring consistent and precise responses whilst also minimising the likelihood of human error. Your prior entered dataset allows for streamlined and accurate workflows. By automating repetitive tasks, property management teams can optimise their operations, concentrate on more complex business challenges, and deliver a seamless experience to their members.

Automating help desk operations with OpenAI

The integration of artificial intelligence into property management software represents a significant leap forward in the realm of help desk operations. By automating routine inquiries and facilitating human-like interactions, OpenAI-powered software seamlessly integrates with the existing dataset. This cutting-edge technology empowers commercial property management teams to drastically leading to remarkable efficiency gains.

With OpenAI helpdesk integration, a high volume of tickets can be efficiently handled, enabling the resolution of 100 inquiries in just 15 minutes. Such efficiency improvements drastically reduce resolution times, increase overall productivity, and allow teams to focus on more critical tasks.

Challenges and overcoming them

While the integration of OpenAI into help desk operations offers numerous advantages, there are challenges to navigate to ensure a seamless customer service experience. One significant challenge is the potential for misinterpretation or incorrect responses by the AI system, especially when dealing with complex or ambiguous customer inquiries. To overcome this, it is crucial to continuously train and refine AI models by feeding them with accurate and up-to-date data.

It is important to note that the integration of AI into help desk operations does not render the customer service team obsolete. On the contrary, it empowers them to focus on delivering personalised, human-centric assistance and resolving complex problems that may require face-to-face interactions. By automating routine inquiries through AI, valuable time and expertise can be allocated where they are most needed. The synergy between AI and an exceptional team allows for a perfect balance, providing efficient self-service options while maintaining the human touch that sets customer service apart.

Unlocking the future with OpenAI

With Nexudus’s OpenAI integration, commercial property businesses can unlock the future of help desk operations. By automating routine inquiries, the integration frees up valuable time for property management teams to focus on strategic initiatives to enhance the overall customer experience. The utilisation of artificial intelligence ensures consistent and accurate responses, minimising the risk of errors and further enhancing customer satisfaction. Moreover, the 24/7 availability of the help desk powered by OpenAI means that customers receive prompt assistance regardless of their location or time zone.

Embracing this innovative technology allows businesses to stay ahead, deliver exceptional customer support, and unlock new levels of operational efficiency. The future of the commercial property sector and workspace help desks is here, and it’s here to stay.

• Carlos Almansa is co-founder and CEO of Nexudus

The post Why ChatGPT is your friend, not foe appeared first on Place North West.

Sponsored by Tyler Grange, Freeths, Hope Architects, and Telcom, the event was held at Escape to Freight Island by Mayfield Park in Manchester. There was a feast of pizza for those attending to enjoy, as well as an assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink options.

Attendees at the event included representatives from Landsec U+I, BAM, Faithful & Gould, Corstorphine & Wright Architects, Lambert Smith Hampton, Mosaic Town Planning, and Re-Form Landscape Architecture.

You can see photos from the social in the gallery below.

Don’t want to miss the next Place event? Be sure to grab your tickets for our Greater Manchester Development Update on 7 September, featuring a robust list of speakers including Trafford Council’s head of planning and development Rebecca Coley, Bury Council chief executive Lynne Ridsdale, and CERT Property managing director Howard Lord.

Click any image to launch gallery