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Urban development corporations

Urban development corporations are established under powers dating back to the 1980s. Since the arrival of the communities plan in 2003, the government has established three new UDCs that will organise development in Thurrock, Essex, the north London stretch of the Thames Gateway and west Northamptonshire. South Bedfordshire authorities are also pushing for a UDC.

What you need to know about them

The most important difference between UDCs and other delivery vehicles is that they have planning powers; each UDC is responsible for determining large applications.

UDCs have wider-ranging compulsory purchase and land assembly powers than either RDAs or councils, meaning that they can acquire and dispose of sites and prepare them for development by ensuring the provision of services like water and electricity.

The other key difference between UDCs and the other delivery vehicles is that they are guaranteed direct funding by the ODPM. The Thurrock UDC, for example, has been promised £60m of funding over the first three years of its operational life.

Unlike their 1980s counterparts, the new breed of UDCs will not have a say over minor planning applications, such as loft extensions for individual homes. And they will not be responsible for forward planning, which will remain with the council.

UDCs tend to be set up in an area where heavy investment and strong powers are needed to kickstart development. A variant of the UDC has been set up in Milton Keynes where an organisation called a partnership committee has development control powers over all large developments within a delineated “urban development area”. The committee has heavy input from English Partnerships, reflecting its strong historical role and the extent of its land holdings in the new town.

Delivery boards

The communities plan has led to the emergence of a new group of organisations called delivery boards or partnerships in the South-east housing growth areas. Each is essentially a partnership set up with a remit to assist with growth. Delivery boards are modelled on the urban regeneration companies, but have a less formal structure.

What you need to know about them

The boards receive their running costs directly from the ODPM.

They receive less money than UDCs. The Cambridgeshire Horizons delivery board has an annual budget of £1.6m.

Delivery boards bid for funds on a project-by-project basis.

Unlike local authorities, which have many functions, boards are focused on the single goal of implementing development. The boards act primarily as brokers, helping prospective developers to negotiate their way through the bureaucratic quagmire and bringing together different parts of the same authority, like highways and planning departments. They also co-ordinate efforts to attract central government investment in essentials such as roads.

The specific job that a delivery board performs depends to a large extent on the circumstances of the particular area. In some cases, its main role is to co-ordinate the work of different authorities. For example, in north Northamptonshire, the board will be responsible for putting together a joint development framework. In other places, the more informal structure of a delivery board has been chosen because the direction of development is already well established by a local agency, such as EP or the council, reducing the need for a more formal URC or UDC structure.

Urban regeneration companies

The government has set up 20 urban regeneration companies since 1999. The most recent three were in eastern England. URCs tend to be private sector-led organisations with a business figure at the helm. Each URC has an anticipated lifespan of 10 to 15 years. For more information about the responsibilities of URCs, visit urcs online at www.urcs-online.co.uk

What you need to know about them

The most important difference between UDCs and URCs is that the latter have no planning or land assembly powers of their own; these remain in the hands of the relevant local authority.

URCs receive funding for their running costs from English Partnerships and the regional development agencies rather than the ODPM.

URCs are not set up to carry out direct development. Instead, like delivery boards, URCs have a dedicated team to deliver development by co-ordinating private and public investment.

URCs are also able to call on RDAs and EP, both of which are represented on the board, to use their land assembly powers to help implement development.

Some URCs, such as Sheffield One, have been responsible for selecting preferred developers.

As part of their co-ordinating role, URCs also prepare masterplans or regeneration frameworks, which are designed to establish an overall direction for development and show how it can be delivered.

English Partnerships

The government’s national regeneration agency has been given a significantly enhanced role by deputy prime minister John Prescott since the launch of the sustainable communities plan in 2003.

What you need to know about them

EP’s role is tightly focused on physical development and regeneration.

EP has statutory land assembly and compulsory purchase powers that it uses to buy and bring back into use derelict brownfield sites across the country, including NHS Estates’ portfolio.

It also has a large portfolio of greenfield sites in the former new towns, such as Telford and Milton Keynes.

Like the RDAs, EP can directly develop sites or give out gap funding, most recently for housing.

EP also provides advice and consultancy services to local authorities and regeneration agencies.

It runs a series of demonstration programmes, like the Millennium Villages, which are designed to showcase best practice in physical regeneration.

Regional development agencies

The nine regional development agencies (RDAs) were set up in 1999, inheriting much of EP’s portfolio of development sites. They were given similar site assembly and compulsory purchase powers as councils and English Partnerships, and this enabled them to purchase land and property for regeneration purposes. More information can be obtained on the RDAs at www.consumer.gov.uk/rda/info/.

What you need to know about them:

The RDAs can carry out direct development and award gap funding grants to reclaim derelict sites.

They can use their land assembly powers to help local delivery vehicles such as URCs to deliver development.

Although they are more geographically focused than EP, RDAs have a wider remit. The reclamation of brownfield land is just one of the RDAs’ functions. Their key priority is economic development, embracing training and skills, which must also be funded from their “single pot” programme.

The RDAs receive their funding from a number of government departments, principally the ODPM, but they report to the DTI.