Start Date Duration (years) Name of LABV Public sector partner Private sector partner Indicative Forecast Value (£m) Type Purpose 2002 15 ISIS Waterside Regeneration Canal and River Trust (previously British Waterways) MUSE (previously AMEC) part of Morgan Sindall Group; bought out Aviva/Igloo’s 50% interest 50 operational & development Regeneration of 5 canal-side assets in Birmingham, Brentford, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester 2004 5-10* North East Property Partnership trading as Buildings for Business Homes & Communities Agency (previously ONE North East) UK Land Estates 155 management Management of investment portfolio of 1700 predominantly industrial properties over 49 acres; *UK Land bought out HCA/ONE North East interest 2013 effectively terminating JV 2005 10 Blueprint Homes & Communities Agency (previously East Midlands Development Agency and English Partnerships) Igloo (wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva Investors) 45 management Management of investment portfolio and regeneration of town centre sites/business parks 2006 10 Space North West Ltd trading as Norwepp Homes & Communities Agency (previously North West RDA) Ashtenne Industrial Fund; subsequently acquired by Halsteen 140 management Management of wide portfolio of assets in Merseyside and Cumbria. Developments include Liverpool Innovation Park and Exchange Station 2007 10 PxP Homes & Communities Agency (previously Advantage West Midlands) Langtree and Bank of Scotland 64 management Management of 600,000 sq.ft. investment portfolio over 130 acreas; target of £100m 2008 28 Croydon Council Urban Regeneration Vehicle (CCURV) London Borough of Croydon John Laing 450 town centre development Four town centre sites: Bernard Weatherill House; Waddon Leisure Centre; Taberner House; Lion Green Car Park; key project is Public Service Delivery Hub for Council
2008 10* Tunbridge Wells Regeneration Company Tunbridge Wells BC John Laing 150 town centre development Regeneration and development projects in Royal Tonbridge Wells, Cranbrook, Paddock Wood and Southborough but none delivered; * dissolved 2012 with financial settlement for John Laing 2008 10 Solum Regeneration Network Rail Kier 500 operational Regeneration of railway station assets; 14 project with initial focus on 7 locations: Christchurch, Epsom, Walthamstow, Redhill, Haywards Heath, Twickenham & Guiford 2009 15+ SkyPark Devon County Council St Modwen 210 development Development of site at Exeter airport for 1.4m sq.ft. business park 2009 15 Onsite North East (previously ONEDIN) Homes & Communities Agency (previously ONE North East) Langtree Real Estate Holdings 25 development Regeneration of 23 development sites comprising approximately 1000a in North East 2010 20 Aylesbury Vale Estates (AVE) LLP Aylesbury Vale DC Guildhouse 3.6 p.a. Town centre management Management/ investment of a mixed portfolio of non-operational assets; purchased Hale Leys Shopping Centre 2012 2010 20 Sci-Tech Daresbury (previously Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus Halton Borough Council and Science and Technology Facilities Council Langtree Real Estate Holdings 30 development Development of 1m sq.ft. of space for science and technology organisations; 9ha designated Enterprise Zone status 2011 2011 20 Bournemouth Development Company Bournemouth Borough Council Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd 350-500 town centre development Development of 16 sites, principally surface car parks, to contribute to delivery of
Council’s Town Centre Vision 2011 10 Barton Oxford LLP Oxford City Council Grosvenor Developments Ltd 40 residential development Co-investment partner to bring forward development of 885 units on 38ha 2011 unknown Scotswood Local Housing Company trading as New Tyne West Development Company LLP Newcastle City Council Barratt/David Wilson Homes and Keepmoat Homes 265 residential development Establishment of a Local Housing Company Joint Venture to deliver 1,800 homes on a 66ha (125a) site in west end of Newcastle upon Tyne; backing from HCA 2011 15 Sheffield Housing Company Sheffield City Council Keepmoat Ltd and Great Places Housing Group unknown residential development Multi-phase delivery of 2300 new homes on 60ha of council owned brownfield land 2012 15 Slough Regeneration Vehicle Slough Borough Council Morgan Sindall Investments Ltd 1000 town centre development Phase 1 The Curve 2013 20-25 Kier Kent Initiative Kent County Council Kier Group unknown residential development 3 Kent County Council owned sites in Sevenoaks, Canterbury and Swale to provide 152 new homes 2013 unknown Wire Regeneration Ltd Warrington Borough Council Langtree Real Estate Holdings unknown town centre development Development of southern (Wilderspool) gateway 2013 20 Evolution Gateshead Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council Home Housing Group 347 residential development 19 council owned sites to deliver 2400 new homes Despite the apparent successful creation of up to 20 LABVs in England, our review of the relatively limited literature on the operation and performance of LABVs (2, 15-16, 27) has identified the following barriers that are preventing wider use of the model in the UK: Procurement and partnership Low market values Risk transfer Economies of scale and critical mass Lack of skills, knowledge and expertise Lack of objective evaluation of performance The following section briefly contemplates each of these barriers in turn, before setting out the research methodology that was employed to investigate whether, in
Procurement The time, cost and complexity of procurement was a near universal cause for complaint amongst interviewees. One of the common concerns surrounding procurement was that it was a lengthy process which acted as a deterrent to investors. Interviewee D confirmed that in the procurement process, the demands of OJEU is the biggest barrier to the wider use of the model, discouraging potential private sector investors from participating in a complex, costly and demanding process when they are not guaranteed success, observing that: “You get some developers who see there is an OJEU process which has to be entered into first and straight away say no, we are not bidding for that!” There are some structures, such as co-investment partnerships, that avoid the requirement to follow OJEU process, which demonstrate how quickly LABVs can be put in place. For example, one city council achieved financial closure on its LABV within eight months. Where development is being procured, full OJEU process is unavoidable, however, as experience and knowledge grows, timescales may be reduced from 2-3 years to twelve months. Interviewee F agreed that the procurement process is becoming quicker: “yyyyyy City Council are going about this process in a speedy manner and hope to have full closure and a partner selected within 12 – 18 months” Each individual local authority is different and the overall aims and objectives of the partnership should determine both the appropriate model to be used which will in