Financing Property's Contribution to Regeneration

Abstract

Attracting investment and finance into inner-city and other renewal areas poses particular difficulties and is frequently reliant on strong public-sector commitment through special incentives or other mechanisms to provide the conditions to lever private-sector activity. This paper initially links the concept of market failure and the rationale for regeneration and examines policy responses from UK, European and US perspectives, followed by a consideration of public- and private-sector financing approaches. International perspectives draw particularly upon the use of tax-based mechanisms in regeneration—notably, those used in the US. In the European context, the paper highlights implications for regeneration stemming from the interpretation of State Aid rules and competition policy. Conclusions reflect upon the complexity of regeneration and the importance of the different stakeholders within the regeneration process.