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Land, Development
and Design
Paul Syms
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Contents
Foreword viii
Preface ix
3 Project Inception 38
3.1 Introduction 38
3.2 Land for development 39
3.3 Assessing the market potential 42
3.4 Forecasting rents and prices 49
iii
iv Contents
3.5 Summary 50
3.6 Checklist 51
5 Site Assessment 75
5.1 Introduction 75
5.2 The historical study 76
5.3 Walk-over survey 87
5.4 Intrusive site investigation 88
5.5 The final report 94
5.6 Summary 96
5.7 Checklist 97
6 Risk Analysis 98
6.1 Introduction 98
6.2 Greenfield development 99
6.3 Previously developed land and the potential for pollution 99
6.4 Guidance documents 102
6.5 Contaminated land legislation 105
6.6 Summary 113
6.7 Checklist 114
14 Masterplanning 256
14.1 Introduction 256
14.2 Revitalising the city centre ± Sheffield One 257
14.3 Urban waterfront regeneration ± Ipswich Wet Dock 265
14.4 Meeting demand ± masterplanning greenfield
development, Cambourne 271
14.5 Paying for regeneration ± Millenium Quarter,
Tower Hamlets 276
14.6 Summary 281
14.7 Checklist 283
Contents vii
References 336
Index 344
Foreword
by Sir Peter Hall, Director of the Institute of Community Studies
One of the strangest and saddest features about urban development in Britain is
that it is traditionally seen by all the actors as some kind of war game, in which
private developers fight to make as much money as possible while public
planners use every possible means to stop them. This should not be necessary,
and in other European countries ± such as the Netherlands, widely admired for
the quality of much of its development ± it does not seem to be the case. Part of
the problem, no doubt, lies in the adversarial character that the planning process
has acquired, far from the ideas of those who framed the historic 1947 Town
and Country Planning Act, but part lies in the nature of professional education.
Planners are trained in planning schools, developers in schools of surveying, and
very seldom do the two professional streams come together.
There is thus a chicken and egg problem: the two professions are reared on
significantly different literatures, so authors write for one market or the other.
This is compounded by a basic lack of literature on the development process:
there is an extraordinary dearth of books that describe this process as the
developer experiences it, either for the budding surveyor-developer or the
intending planner.
Paul Syms has written to fill this gap, and is to be congratulated on doing it so
thoroughly and so clearly. His book concentrates primarily on brownfield
development, because that is where current priorities lie and where some of the
greatest complexities arise, but in his carefully chosen case studies he does not
ignore greenfield development either. It will immediately and justifiably
become a standard text for every student and professional who wants to
understand the land development process and its outcomes.
viii
Preface
1
Based on research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and published by RICS Books.
ix
x Preface
2
Blackwell Science, 1997.
Preface xi
to thank the team at Taylor Young Urban Design, especially Andy Clarke, for
producing the mini masterplan used in Chapters 5 and 8.
Dr Sarah Macnaugton of Bio-wise suggested some of the remediation and
treatment case studies in Chapter seven, whilst others were provided by QDS
and Knight Environmental. Staff members at N.M. Rothschild & Co,
Ansbacher & Co and the Royal Bank of Scotland spent time explaining the
approaches adopted by their banks when financing development projects.
Gwyn Griffiths of the Welsh Development Agency provided the Port of Barry
joint venture case study.
David Gray of the East of England Development Agency and Sue Arnold of
Ipswich Borough Council both provided me with information for the Ipswich
case study, as too did the Concept Centre team and Terry Farrell & Partners for
the Cambourne Study. I am also extremely grateful to the various developers,
architects and town planners who assisted me with the other design case studies.
I should like to thank everyone who provided photographs and other
illustrations used throughout the book. Their copyright is noted in the
Acknowledgements after the references section. Where possible I have tried to
provide Internet `weblinks', so as to enable the reader to follow up topics in
more detail. These weblinks are listed at the end of Chapter 2.
I should like to thank my colleagues at Sheffield Hallam University, who
made suggestions as to what should be included in the book and allowed me
the time to undertake the writing. Finally, I should like to thank my wife and
collaborator, Janice, for her perseverance in reading countless drafts and for
suggesting a number of the topics covered in the book. Without her help the
final outcome would not have been achieved.
Biographical note
Paul Syms is Professor of Urban Land Use in the School of Environment and
Development at Sheffield Hallam University. He has extensive practical
experience in the field of re-using previously developed land and buildings,
having established his own consultancy practice in 1986. He still continues to
practise, acting mainly as an expert witness.
Paul originally qualified as a valuer and then went on to research a Masters
degree in Economic Geography at the University of Manchester. His doctorate
from Sheffield Hallam University was awarded in respect of his research into
the development and valuation of contaminated land. His work on urban
regeneration has been extensively published in the United Kingdom and
overseas. Paul is frequently invited to speak at conferences and seminars on the
subject of re-using land.
Part One
Planning and Development
Introduction
This part introduces the reader to the preliminary development stages, and to
the planning process. The Government is committed to making radical changes
to the planning process, criticised by many developers as a major cause of delays
in getting developments under way. The process can indeed be very lengthy,
regardless of whether the site in question is a greenfield or a previously used site
and can be a very emotive issue.
Chapter 1 describes the development process and introduces eleven phases of
development. Each of these phases is then covered more fully elsewhere in the
book.
Chapter 2 deals with planning policies and comments in detail on land for
housing, having briefly set out the Urban Task Force's recommendations.
PPG3 has only been in effect for a relatively short time but the aim of this
guidance is to encourage the reuse of previously used land wherever possible.
Chapter 3 considers the inception of the project, commencing with an idea
or a piece of land, through the process of market research and initial assessment
of the likely rents or prices that might be achieved.
Planning is returned to in the final chapter of the book with a summary of
the proposals contained in the December 2001 Planning Green Paper.
Chapter 1
The Development Process
1.1 Introduction
Urban regeneration is not just about renewing and revitalising the built
environment in our towns and cities. It must also address issues involving the
economic and social well-being of the community and should also take
account of cultural backgrounds. Without having regard for economic, social
and cultural aspects, property development projects may not meet the needs of
the community and may be unsustainable in the long run, notwithstanding any
short-term profitability that might be achieved. They may even fail to produce
a development profit.
The purpose of this book is to focus upon the property development process.
It does this mainly by considering the reuse of previously developed land. The
book does not seek to examine in depth economic, social and cultural issues
but, where these might have a significant bearing on a property development,
they are flagged up for the reader's attention. Checklists are provided at the end
of each chapter, highlighting the issues raised and are intended to assist
developers, planners, surveyors and others involved in the execution of
development projects.
3
4 Planning and Development
It is often the case that planners see property developers as greedy, money-
grabbing individuals without a thought for the wider good. They seek planning
permissions which are impossible to deliver and in unrealistic time-scales. On
the other hand, developers sometimes regard planners as being obstructive,
lacking an understanding of development issues and overly constrained by local
plans and Unitary Development Plans (UDPs). In practice, however, they both
have important roles to play in the development process.
There may well be faults on both sides but, in many cases, the problem is due
to a lack of communication and a failure to see the other person's point of view.
This chapter looks at the development process and seeks to identify areas where
conflicts may arise. In view of policies that focus development attention on the
reuse of previously developed sites, and because development of such sites
tends to be more complex than greenfields, the chapter concentrates on the
redevelopment process, although most of the points are equally applicable to
greenfield development.
A number of authors, including Adams (1994) and Cadman and Topping
(1995), have looked at the property development process. Adams approached
the subject from the viewpoint of the planner working within and in response
to property markets. He also considered development models described by
previous authors, such as Barrett et al. (1978) and Gore and Nicholson (1985).
Cadman and Topping's objective was to describe the development process,
enabling the reader to obtain a complete overview. They identified the
following main stages:
(1) Initiation
(2) Evaluation
(3) Acquisition
(4) Design and costing
(5) Permissions
(6) Commitment
(7) Implementation
(8) Let/manage/dispose
They also emphasised that these stages may not always follow this sequence and
often overlap or repeat.
The stages described by Cadman and Topping apply to speculative
development situations, where a developer might not seek an occupier until
construction is well advanced, or even completed. Where a development is
pre-let or pre-sold, the letting, management and disposal stage might come
much earlier in the development process, possibly even preceding the initiation
stage in situations where a developer receives an enquiry from a prospective
occupier and then seeks a site in order to satisfy the demand. It is also more
The Development Process 5
should be commensurate with the risks involved and should produce a return
for the capital employed. Therefore a development that is pre-let or pre-sold
will involve less risk than one which is entirely speculative and the developer
may be able to accept a reduced profit. The amount of profit required will
depend on each individual project and the developer concerned but 15±20% of
the end value of the development may be used as a `rule of thumb'.
Developments that are partly pre-let or pre-sold (or are grant-aided) may be
at the lower end of the profit range whilst speculative projects will be at the
higher end. Profits on fully pre-let or pre-sold schemes may be lower than 15%,
especially if the developer has been in competition to secure the tenant. Profits
on housing developments or commercial developments constructed in several
phases may also appear to be lower, when compared against end value, but may
in fact be significantly higher if considered in terms of returns on capital
employed, which may be `rolled over' several times during the course of the
development.
This phase includes the initial idea, site identification, preliminary design,
tentative demand studies, initial costs and development appraisals, etc. The
developer may start off with a specific site or building but equally well may
commence with something far less tangible, such as an idea. The developer may
have identified a `gap in the market', possibly from feedback received as a result
of other developments, or as the result of a visit to other towns or countries.
Design at this stage may consist of no more than a few simple sketches and
the financial costing would be equally basic `back of an envelope' calculations.
The market research may have been simply obtaining the views of local estate
agents, possibly people the developer has worked with on other occasions and
with whom a relationship of trust has developed.
From these initial concepts a more detailed development idea will emerge,
or the developer will decide to abandon the project. In this early phase,
members of the development team, architect, engineer, cost consultant and
estate agent, may well be working `at risk', with their future remuneration
being based on the expected viability of the project.
If the project is to succeed, the developer must be prepared to act in a flexible
manner to achieve the redevelopment of `previously used' or `brownfield' land
and buildings. This may entail changing the type of scheme to be developed
and `what if' alternatives need to be reflected in the development appraisals. It is
possible that sites identified for residential development in local plans or
Unitary Development Plans are in fact unsuited to that type of use, due to
contamination or other problems in the ground. In such situations it is also
The Development Process 7
This is the very important investigation phase, to determine whether or not the
site is affected by contamination and, if so, the extent to which it may affect the
development. The National House-Building Council (NHBC) now requires
its members to undertake geotechnical and geoenvironmental investigations of
all sites if the builder wishes to have the benefit of the Buildmark warranty. This
phase also includes assessment of available service infrastructures. It is important
to identify any access or site constraints, including any underground obstruc-
tions, which may affect the development.
A properly planned investigation is essential, starting with a study of the
historical uses on the site and examination of map records from the earliest
development. All site assessments should then be followed by a `walkover'
survey. Only then can an intrusive investigation be designed.
In some cases it will be necessary for intrusive investigations to be undertaken
in several stages, developing the site assessment in the light of knowledge
obtained from the earlier work. Whilst it may be desirable to obtain a `fixed
price' quotation from the environmental consultant or the site investigation
contractor, this may not always be possible, especially if the extent of laboratory
testing cannot be determined at the outset. If possible, intending developers
should talk to previous owners, employees, tenants and local residents, as they
may be able to assist in locating unexpected deposits of waste material.
Where the presence of contamination has been disclosed as a result of the site
investigation, it is necessary to determine the extent to which it might affect the
development. For this purpose the possibility of any source (or contaminant)±
pathway±receptor linkage needs to be considered. This is the analysis and
reporting phase that can only follow the site assessment phase. If any con-
tamination has been found the report should include recommendations as to
remediation strategy. This work should be undertaken by developing con-
ceptual models of any significant contaminant pathways and identifying the
possible receptors, including building site operatives, residents, visitors and
workers on commercial developments. All possible linkages should be con-
sidered. It may not be necessary to remove all contamination from the site; it
may be feasible to break or remove the pathway instead. This option must,
however, be considered in the context of how it is likely to be viewed by future
purchasers, tenants or investors. The possibility of the site being contaminated
in the legal sense, in accordance with Part IIA of the Environmental Protection
Act 1990, should be considered (see Chapters 6 and 9).
Remediation strategies should be prepared on the basis of suitability for use
The Development Process 9
Only when the foregoing phases have been substantially completed can the
project move to the detailed design phase. This will involve reworking the
original ideas to take account of discovered ground conditions and other
possible constraints, such as the inability to acquire, or redevelop, the entire site.
It will be necessary for the project team to examine the layout of the site and
be prepared to consider alternative remediation strategies given different lay-
outs or reuse of land. On sites affected by landfill gas, it will be necessary to
address the gas protection, venting and monitoring measures at an early stage, as
part of the integrated design process. If monitoring is required, then the
development will probably be better suited for `managed' (usually rented)
housing or for commercial use. Developers and regulators should agree in
advance the duration of any monitoring, or the criteria to be achieved before
monitoring is discontinued. Different local authorities may have different ideas
in respect of monitoring, often driven by their previous experience.
Community considerations are most important during this phase and it may
be appropriate to arrange public exhibitions and meetings to discuss the
proposals before they are finalised.
Although the development team should have been taking account of the
financial implications of any changes brought about as a result of earlier phases
in the development, it is only now that a full and accurate feasibility study can
be produced. Having completed the site assessment and having identified all
potential pollutant linkages, the revised design should be the subject of a
comprehensive review, involving all members of the development team.
It is possible that a considerable period of time, at least several months and
possibly more than a year, will have elapsed since the project inception phase
and it may be advisable to undertake a new demand study, especially if the
nature of the development proposal has undergone any significant changes.
The review will involve a complete reassessment of detailed design and costs,
as well as consideration of any competing schemes that may be under
10 Planning and Development
Relatively few developers fund projects entirely from their own resources and
developers who need to raise finance are unlikely to leave it until this stage
The Development Process 11
It is unlikely that a developer will leave this to the very end of the project but it
is only now that a saleable or lettable product has been produced. Ideally the
sales and marketing team should have been involved since project inception
and they should certainly have had an input into the detailed design phase.
Reports from the sales team may also be essential in securing development
finance.
This phase should also include communication of information regarding site
history, site investigations and remediation works, to purchasers, tenants and
investors. Developers will have different ways of dealing with this. Some will
be quite open about the site history, including `before' photographs in the sales
office and on brochures, whereas others will only provide information as part of
the package sent to purchasers' solicitors. Either way, it is important to be open
with information relating to the site and its development, as any attempt at
concealment is likely to have an adverse effect once it is discovered. As a general
rule openness is probably the best policy, otherwise buyers may feel that the
developer is trying to hide something.
The Development Process 13
1.3 Summary
2.1 Introduction
`The land use planning system, and the decision makers within it, play a key
role in national life. They determine where and in what form development
can occur, protect key environmental assets, and establish the location of
essential infrastructure.'
(CBI, 2001)
The above quote from the CBI (formerly the Confederation of British
Industry) planning brief Planning for productivity, emphasises the importance
of the planning system in ensuring the availability of land for commercial
developments. The brief, which is supported by the British Property
Federation (BPF), the House Builders Federation (HBF) and the British
Chambers of Commerce (BCC), states that there are around 150 000
planning applications a year for commercial developments in England: `But
for business, the planning system is too slow, involves too many
uncertainties and often results in poor decisions.' Highlighting the problems,
the brief proposes a ten-point action plan, which is discussed later in this
chapter.
The importance of planning is also recognised by Government:
`A key role of the planning system is to enable the provision of homes and
buildings, investment and jobs in such a way which is consistent with the
principles of sustainable development. It needs to be positive in promoting
competitiveness while being protective towards the environment and
amenity. The policies which underpin the system, summarised [in Planning
Policy Guidance Note 1], seek to balance these aims. It will frequently be the
case, in relation to a particular development proposal, that several economic,
environmental, social or other factors need to be taken into account. This
14
Planning and Development Policies 15
This chapter was written during what may be regarded as an important period
in the development of English town planning policies. The preceding 18
months had seen the publication of an Urban White Paper (DETR, 2000a),
new planning policies in relation to housing development (DETR, 2000b) and
extensive guidance relating to design and urban capacity. Many of the devel-
opments in policy and guidance are referred to in this and succeeding chapters.
However, policies and guidance are not static, therefore this chapter can only
provide an outline of planning policies and guidance, as they existed in the
autumn of 2001. In order to ascertain the latest situation readers are advised to
consult the various websites listed in the Weblinks at the end of this chapter.
Opening the debate on the future of planning, Stephen Byers, the Secretary
of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, described the
importance of planning in the following terms:
`Planning is fundamental to the way our cities, towns and villages look, the
way they work and the way they interconnect. Getting planning right means
that our goals for society are easier to achieve. Good planning can have a
huge beneficial effect on the way we live our lives.'
(Byers, 2001)
The British system of town planning is now over 50 years old and, in the view
of the Government, is in need of a radical overhaul. The intention of opening a
debate was therefore to inform Government thinking, leading to the pub-
lication of a Green Paper on planning in the autumn of 2001. This is referred to
later in this chapter. First, however, current planning policies are considered.
more relevant to the generalities of development than others that are more
specialist in their application. Reference is made in this and subsequent chapters
to the implications for development arising out of different PPGs.
PPG1 sets out the Government's approach to planning and to sustainable
development, seeking to deliver the objective of achieving, now and in the
future, economic development to secure higher living standards while
protecting and enhancing the environment. The most commonly used
definition is `development that meets the needs of the present without
The Green Paper Household Growth: where shall we live? (DETR, 1996a)
addressed the problem of providing development land in order to satisfy the
growth in demand for housing, expected as a result of the 1992-based
Household Projections. These showed that the number of households in
England was expected to grow by 4.4 million (23%) over the 25 years 1991 to
2016, to reach 23.6 million by 2016. The underlying population was expected
to increase by 3.6 million over the same period (DETR, 1996a, p. 5).
The reasons given for household growth formation exceeding the increase in
population were given as:
. Around 169 000 ha, or 1.3% of England's area, are projected to change from
rural uses to urban uses between 1991 and 2016, equal to about 6800 ha per
year.
. By 2016 about 11.9% of England's land area is projected to be in urban uses
compared with an estimated 10.6% in 1991.
. Between 1991 and 2016, households are projected to increase by 23% but
land in urban uses is projected to increase by 12.2%. The difference is
explained primarily by the recycling of land in urban uses.
The figure for expected growth in household formation was later revised in a
downward direction, to 3.8 million, for the 25-year period 1996±2021
(DETR, 1999). Although a reduction, the revised projection still represented a
19% increase in household formation and, numerically, exceeded the popu-
lation growth projection for the same period.
The Green Paper considered a number of options for future development,
assessing the merits of:
. urban infill;
. urban extensions;
. key village extensions and multiple village extensions;
. new towns and new villages.
Planning Policy Guidance Note 6, Town Centres and Retail Developments, places
the emphasis on a plan-led approach to promoting development in town
centres, both through policies and the identification of locations and sites for
development. It stresses the need for a sequential approach to the selection of
sites for development, for retail, employment, leisure and other key uses in
Planning and Development Policies 19
town centres and support for local centres. Thus, in the absence of a planning
brief, when identifying a site for retail development, if a developer is proposing
an out-of-centre development the onus will be on the developer to demon-
strate that he has thoroughly assessed all potential town centre options (PPG6,
DETR, 1996b, paragraph 1.10). This means that where suitable sites, or
buildings for conversion, are available in town centres, preference should be
given to the redevelopment of these (followed by edge of centre, district and
local centres) before out-of-centre locations are considered.
A study by CB Hillier Parker, on behalf of the National Retail Planning
Forum, the British Council of Shopping Centres and the DETR, has examined
how the sequential test set out in PPG6 is being applied in practice and its
effects on retail development (CB Hillier Parker, 2000). The objectives were to
establish the availability of evidence on policy and practice before and after
introduction of the sequential approach and then to test the quality of that
evidence to arrive at conclusions on the effects of the policy measure. The
research consisted of the following:
From this study the conclusion was reached that local plan policies and
decisions for retail development have changed to incorporate the sequential
approach. However, further research is needed addressing the definition of
edge-of-centre, into the availability of town centre sites, the flexibility of
retailers and the capacity of town centre and edge-of-centre locations to
accommodate new retail development.
Mixed-use development is promoted by PPG6, retaining key town centre
uses and maintaining urban vitality. The vitality and viability of town and
district centres depend on:
In order that these objectives may be achieved, the planning system should
provide a positive framework to encourage appropriate investment in town
centres, through the development of town centre strategies and development
plans and by facilitating site assembly. The Government wishes to attract
investment into upgrading existing buildings and high-quality new
development, including an increase in housing in town centres. A set of
indicators for measuring the vitality and viability of town centres is included
in PPG6 and these are reproduced in Box 2.2. They provide baseline and
time-series information on the health of the centre, allow comparison
between centres and are useful for assessing the likely impact of out-of-centre
developments.
PPG13: Transport
PPG13 deals with transport and opens by making the point that our quality of
life depends on transport and easy access to jobs, shopping, leisure facilities and
services. It goes on to say that we need a safe, efficient and integrated transport
system to support a strong and prosperous economy. But the way we travel and
the continued growth in road traffic is damaging our towns, harming our
countryside and contributing to global warming (PPG13, DETR, 2001
paragraph 1).
The objectives of the guidance are to integrate planning and transport at the
national, strategic and local level. In order to deliver the objectives of this
guidance, when preparing development plans and considering planning
applications, local authorities should:
. actively manage the pattern of urban growth to make the fullest use of
public transport, and focus major generators of travel demand in city, town
and district centres and near to major public transport interchanges;
. locate day-to-day facilities which need to be near their clients in local
centres so that they are accessible by walking and cycling;
. accommodate housing principally within existing urban areas, planning for
increased intensity of development for both housing and other uses at
locations which are highly accessible by public transport, walking and
cycling;
. ensure that development comprising jobs, shopping, leisure and services
offers a realistic choice of access by public transport, walking, and cycling,
recognising that this may be less achievable in some rural areas;
. in rural areas, locate most development for housing, jobs, shopping, leisure
and services in local service centres which are designated in the develop-
ment plan to act as focal points for housing, transport and other services, and
encourage better transport provision in the countryside;
Planning and Development Policies 21