original source: Newstart Magazine
28th July 2010

Public agencies may have been spending regeneration money on the wrong things, according to a think tank. Research by the Chamberlain Forum into regeneration investment in Birmingham shows places that benefitted from modest but well-targeted community initiatives experienced some of the biggest growth in property values over the past ten years.

Balsall Heath and Castle Vale showed the highest rate of growth in property value in inner and outer Birmingham respectively over the past ten years, according to Land Registry data.

But the same data shows that parts of the city like Aston and Kings Norton, which have seen large-scale public investment through the new deal for communities, have not seen such large increases in value.

The report by Birmingham based Chamberlain Forum, which sets out a new approach to neighbourhood regeneration using community assets, finds that some £360m has been added to the value of Balsall Heath over and above what would be expected on the basis of average inner city price increases. The equivalent figure for Castle Vale is about £94m.

It finds that Balsall Health has seen an increase in neighbourhood equity of 262%, with a 124% increase in Castle Vale.

Read full article >