British Property Federation speaks out about pre budget report
With the pre budget report dominating the news today, the chief executive of the British Property Federation has some advice for Alistair Darling about her sector. Liz Peace is calling for Mr Darling to issue local government-backed bonds, which will enable councils to pay for schools, roads and other infrastructure. She said: "It is one of several progressive reforms being demanded from the pre-budget report that could kick-start stalled housing and retail developments."
Ms Pearce said popular finance model which is used in America, tax increment financing (Tif), has been endorsed by big cities in the UK such as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. A Tif district would pay for infrastructure around new developments by borrowing money against future increases in property taxes. The idea is that the infrastructure would then in turn, facilitate development which would generate the increased revenues to pay back any borrowing.
She commented about funding: "Public spending will be massively cut and we know that infrastructure funding isn't going to come out of thin air. Therefore, it is vital that the chancellor listens to city leaders and other experts and makes good on his earlier promise to explore how Tifs could help kick-start construction and build us out of recession."
Also a project has been announced in the pre budget report, to examine how to boost planners' skills in the economics of development in the property industry. The study will identify who requires what type of training and looks at the present training, and how more of it can be provided more cost effectively.