Presentation to the conference “Land Banking & Housing Development: The (New) Role of the Planning System”at the National Institute for Regional & Spatial Analysis(NIRSA) in NUI Maynooth on 28th April 2011

1. The Potential of Landbanking in
Ireland
Alice Charles, BSc Hons PG Dip TCP MRTPI
MIPI

2. What happened
The legacy
Banking Solutions
Landbanking solutions employed in Ireland and
elsewhere
What we need to do
Disclaimer:
Whilst I am an External Member of the NAMA Planning Advisory Committee,
views are mine & mine alone in capacity as Planning Consultant.
Overview

3. What Happened?

4. Increased prosperity in the 90’s with development of
multinational sector
As employment & income increased, house prices rocketed
Construction rose in response & this increased employment &
income, leading to further construction: multiplier effect.
Returning migrants in late 90’s & early 00’s drives demand for
houses further
Euro introduced with reduced interest rates, making cheap
money available so borrowing large amounts becomes norm
& construction intensifies
Benchmarking drove up wages & prices further
As property prices rose, value of collateral increased and
banks perceived risk of property lending fell
Tax incentives
Need to get on the property ladder
Property Developers were everywhere
Global financial meltdown & Irish banks exposed
What happened? Economy

5. Culture of ‘every place should be developed’!
Politically watered down NSS
Developers & vested interests had undue influence on plan making
Councillors & management succumbed to pressure
Mere ‘regard’ given to national & regional policy when Plan making.
Little if any citizen participation, just ‘men with fields’.
Bad development plan zonings
Developers had little regard to statutory Plans in buying or
developing land
Banks ignored planning parameters in lending
Bad design, overdevelopment, car dominated, poor residential
environment, lack of social infrastructure
Bad planning decisions
ABP had to refuse or amend many poor quality developments on
appeal
What happened? Planning

6. The Legacy…

7. Collapsed economy & development sector
Surplus partially completed or completed
development:
Unfinished estates
Zombie hotels & golf courses
Struggling private hospitals
Vacant modern offices
Vacant dated offices
Derelict historic properties
High levels of vacany in village, town and
city centres
Abundance of Raw Land:
Permitted development
Zoned land - 44,000 hectares
Unzoned land
The legacy

8. The legacy – Infrastructure Deficiencies

9. The legacy… Inadequate Waste Water Treatment & Plethora of One off
Housing

10. Banking Solutions…

11. NAMA established as mechanism to deal with
riskiest loans on banks balance sheets
NAMA operates within confines of NAMA Act 2009
Asset management agency
Acquires good & bad loans at market value from
Irish banking institutions
Requires borrowers to submit business plans for
approval
Can appoint receivers
c76 billion Portfolio & c22,000 Loans
Assets spread throughout Ireland, UK, US & wider
world
Planning Advisory Committee established in 2010
Banking Solutions: NAMA

12. Majority established Global
Restructuring teams
Manage major corporate clients who
in financial distress.
Aim is to maximise debt recovery
Revised Business Plans sought for
approval
Can appoint receivers
Land/Property assets could be
partially managed by NAMA and
foreign banks
Banking Solutions: Foreign Banks

13. Landbanking Solutions employed
in Ireland or elsewhere….

14. Land Commission established through Land
Act 1923 & dissolved by Oireachtas in 1992
Land vested in Land Commission for re-
allocation included:
Tenanted land
Untenanted land in Congested District Boards
(CBDs)
All untenanted land outside CDB acquired by
voluntary agreement and re-allocated
Landlord initially paid through Govt Bonds &
post 1950 in cash.
Tenant received a notional advance from the
Land Commission & entered into a Land
Purchase repayment scheme – like a
mortgage.
2.5 million acres of land were distributed
among some 150,000 beneficiaries
Landbanking Solutions employed in Ireland – Land
Commission

15. Industrial Development Authority established
1949 (now Industrial Development Agency
Ireland)
Responsible for the attracting & developing FDI in
Ireland
Identify strategic employment locations, acquires
land, seeks planning approval, services &
landscapes site & attract occupants.
Today Major Strategic Employment Sites include:
Letterkenny, Belview Port, Ringaskiddy, Dundalk,
Oranmore & Athenry.
Reviewing wider landbank and offloading non
core assets.
Landbanking Solutions employed in Ireland – IDA
Ireland

16. Formerly English Partnerships
National housing & regeneration delivery agency for
England
Work in association with Regional Development
Agencies & Local Authorities
Programmes include:
Affordable Homes Programme
BLAC
Land & Regeneration
National Coalfields Programme (est 1997)
Surplus Public Sector Land
Growth Points Initiative
Urban Regeneration Companies e.g. Gloucester
Heritage
Landbanking Solutions employed in England –
Homes & Community Agency

17. Brownfield Land Assembly Trust (BLAT) established as
pilot in 2002 by South East of England Regional
Development Agency (SEEDA)
Est as Brownfield Land Assembly Company in 2007 -
PPP
Aim to tackle shortage of good quality housing at
affordable prices & community & social infrastructure
needs in South East.
Worked in partnership with Local Authorities & Housing
Corporations.
Identified small brownfield sites not in urban capacity
studies, acquire & assembled sites, decontaminate,
develop masterplan & seek planning approval, service &
in some cases develop.
Operated in Growth Areas: Thames Gateway, Reading &
Hastings
Targeted purchase of 1000ha
Landbanking Solutions employed in England –
SEEDA’s Brownfield Land Assembly Trust (BLAT)

18. Unification of Germany led to a 1
million empty apartments, abandoned
industrial parks & social & cultural
facilities in East Germany.
Govt started to plan for shrinking
cities & started demolition
programme to remove abandoned
buildings & put back to agriculture or
park land.
Shrinking Cities movement became
active after 2000
Movement thinking has spread to
other shrinking cities like Detroit
Landbanking Solutions employed in Germany –
East Germany (Berlin) planning for a shrinking city

19. What should we do?

20. Partially completed or
completed development

21. Planning Guidance Manual to guide
use of partially completed or completed
development & landbanking.
Build on Draft Report on Unfinished
Estates.
Role: DoEHLG working with NAMA
Local Authorities
.
1) National Planning Guidance Manual

22. Identify location (Done)
Prepare Site Resolution Plans
Engage with community
Recognise each Estate is unique.
Options include:
Demolition – Where remote from public transport, employment, in flood
plain, etc
Retro fit – Where not developed in accordance with permission, BER
standards & life times homes
Betterment – relocate residents from Estates allocated for demolition to
superior property elsewhere
Reuse for community, social & recreational infrastructure, Allotments,
Urban Farms, residential care, offices or other temporary uses.
Pepper potting social & affordable housing in accordance with LA %
requirement for social & affordable housing – need balanced communities!
Role: Local Authorities, Developers & NAMA
.
2) Unfinished Estates & Apartments – Partially
completed or completed

23. Identify location
Demand for bed spaces
Prepare Site Resolution Plans
Options include:
Continue trading
Sell
Demolish
Reuse Hotels for nursing homes, schools,
hospitals & temporary uses
Reuse Golf Courses for agriculture, provision of
community, social and green infrastructure,
forestry, horticultural uses and temporary uses.
Role: Failte Ireland, Local Authorities, Developers
& NAMA
.
3) Zombie Hotels & Golf Courses

24. Identify location
Assess demand for offices
Prepare Site Resolution Plans
Options include:
Sell
Demolish
Reuse Offices for apartments, hospitals,
residential care, community, social and green
infrastructure and temporary uses
Role: Local Authorities, Developers &
NAMA
.
4) Unfinished and or Vacant Offices – Modern & Dated

25. Raw Land

26. Develop Geographical Information System to
allow for analysis & strategic planning:
Dev Plan (Layers inc. land zonings, permissions,
Natura 2000 sites, floodplains, etc)
AIRO (Layers to include Unfinished Estates /
Hotels, etc )
Other layers that need inclusion: grid, wind speed,
transportation links, servicing, community & social
infrastructure, employment profile, etc)
Role: DoEHLG, Local Authorities, other Govt
Depts, Universities & NAMA
Also should consider working with likes of
IBM Smart Cities team
1) Survey, Analyse & Plan

27. Revise & focus the NSS around 5
key cities
Needs to provide strategic
framework for energy & waste
related development to avoid
next bubble
Develop Marine Spatial Plan to
inform strategic energy related
development
Role: DoEHLG
.
2) Revise National Spatial Strategy & produce Marine
Spatial Plan

28. Prepare Urban Capacity Studies when Plan
Making (survey of district, housing capacity,
include empty homes strategy, living above the
shops, employment land survey, etc)
Plan for infrastructure by undertaking
Infrastructure Capacity Assessments
(Include Physical, Social, Recreational &
Community Infrastructure – Water, Waste
Water, Transport, Health, Parks, Schools, etc)
Equitable way of developing costed
development contribution schemes
Role: Local Authorities working with DoEHLG
3) Establish land capacity & Plan for Infrastructure

29. NAMA &/ IDA Ireland form Land Commission /
National Regeneration Organisation
Programmes could include:
Return to Agriculture & Forestry (NAMA managed
lands unzoned or dezoned & only suitable for
agriculture/forestry)
Brownfield Land Assembly initiative (assemble
NAMA, State & Local Authority Brownfield Assets,
masterplan, seek planning permission & service)
Strategic Employment & Development Zones in
Gateways
Surplus Public Sector land & Foreign banks assets (If
adjoining NAMA assets) - Purchased/vested in
organisation
Village, town & city centre regeneration - restore
vibrancy and mixed use living
Role: NAMA & / IDA Ireland working with
Public Sector Bodies & Local Authority
4) Land Commission / National Regeneration Agency for 21st Century

30. De-zone constrained & surplus land
(above pipeline supply requirements)
Strategic Reserve gives hope value
Introduce strict green belt or horticultural
belt around villages, towns & cities
Promote development of brownfield sites
first.
Consider the promotion of a contemporary
Irish Garden City movement… Medium
density communities, gardens, allotments,
integrated water and waste systems,
mixed use, broadband, energy
independent neighbourhoods.
Role: DoEHLG & LA’s.
5) Plan for shrinking/consolidated villages, towns & cities

31. Density & height often confused
Georgian Dublin most dense
part of City
Density needs to be achieved to
deliver transportation & services
in cost effective manner
Development should reflect
context
Role: DoEHLG, Local
Authorities & NAMA
6) Ensure density in our Gateways in accordance with National Guidance

32. Discourage continued development
frenzy of one off houses.
One off houses cost more in terms of
delivery of infrastructure & services.
Every one off house costs Local
Authorities, NAMA & ultimately the tax
payer.
Serviced sites in small villages & towns &
offer housing choice & help to regenerate
settlements.
Role: DoEHLG, Local Authorities &
NAMA
7) Discourage dispersed rural settlement pattern

33. Thank you
Alice Charles, Director, Alice Charles Planning
Email. alice@alicecharlesplanning.ie