Urban regeneration makes best business sense research shows

Investing in urban regeneration areas makes good business sense as urban regeneration areas have outperformed neighbouring locations in both the office and industrial property sectors new figures show.


The research, from The Urban Regeneration Index, conducted by Morley Fund Management and English Partnerships, shows that from 2001 to 2004, office property in urban regeneration areas produced total returns averaging 15%, 3.2% more than the rest of the UK.

Over this same period industrial property also saw total returns averaging 15%, 1.7% more than the rest of the UK industrial average.

Steve Carr, head of policy and economics for English Partnerships said: “This positive trend in the commercial performance of urban regeneration areas means that private and public investors have continued to remain confident in the returns produced by regeneration areas which in the past would have been considered too risky.”

“It’s a win-win situation – investors gain financially and in turn local communities benefit from increased job opportunities and better places to live created by this continuing inward investment trend.”

The Index shows that urban regeneration areas were also immune to the office down-turns experienced in London and the South-East which depressed the UK average total returns between 2001 and 2004. Office rental growth in regeneration areas exceeded that of neighbouring locations by an average of one per cent per year between 2001 and 2004 and by 7.6% when compared to UK average.

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