Transport Policy and Property Values

Transport and environmental policy in the European Union and within the UK is increasingly concerned with the harmful effects of traffic. Stringent controls on car use in particular are being proposed and implemented. In the UK, for example, these controls include the exclusion of cars from certain streets and areas, road pricing and taxing of workplace parking. These restrictions must be implemented in parallel with investment in public transport in order to maintain levels of accessibility. Accessibility is a key determinant in the location decisions for a range of land uses. There is growing interest among policy-makers in how transport policy and the general rise in traffic congestion may affect land and property values by altering the pattern of accessibility in terms of transport mode, infrastructure provision and cost. In terms of transport influence on land and property values, new transport infrastructure may increase residential property values due to improved accessibility and increase commercial property values due to improved accessibility and possible agglomeration benefits. Previous research has suggested that lower transport costs will result in higher land and property values. This may be a reasonable hypothesis when considering an individual piece of infrastructure but may not be valid if the project has a significant impact on transport costs/accessibility in the city/region as a whole. Other research has shown that new transport infrastructure may shift values rather than increase aggregate land value. Therefore, the potential for redistribution of land and property values is a key issue. Furthermore, investment in public transport is being promoted as a positive means of tackling traffic congestion. Therefore, another key issue is whether the characteristics of the improved accessibility that will come from better public transport is equal or better to the accessibility that is lost due to increasing restraint on other modes as measured in terms of property values. Research at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK is determining whether there is a relationship between investment in transport infrastructure and land and property values. Current research is establishing a methodology that will attempt to identify a relationship between accessibility and land and property value. In doing so it will be necessary to look for a relationship at the city/region level and at the local level. This will capture any relative shifts in values across the city/region as well as any absolute shifts in values near the transport improvement itself. This paper will present the findings of the literature review undertaken as part of the research project which examines academic literature, official publications from central and local government and published reports by transport consultants relating to infrastructure investment, property value and land use change. Specifically the review; / considers the emerging transport framework and its potential impact on the property market, / examines the classical theories of the relationship between the location of urban land uses and values, / provides a critique of empirical urban rent and price determination studies with an emphasis on studies of locational influences on property values and transport influences on property values in particular, and / examines techniques used to assess new public transport investment and identify any consideration of land and property values in these techniques. The paper will then outline the methodology of the study devised to link an urban rent determination model to an accessibility model. This will test whether there is a relationship between accessibility and land and property value and whether it is robust enough to handle significant changes in accessibility patterns.