COMMENT We in the real estate industry already know we are not universally loved, but the sheer strength of a recent statistic should give pause for thought.
More than three-quarters of the public lack confidence in the sector to deliver schemes that genuinely benefit communities, according to the Urban Land Institute UK and YouGov.
The industry must take urgent steps to win back public confidence in our ability to deliver community developments. There are several ways to do this.
The first step should happen at the very earliest stage of development, and it is to ensure you start with a completely open mind about what would be best for local people. At HUB we have found that by beginning without preconceived ideas you set the foundations for an open dialogue with the community that starts to build their trust in you and leads to a scheme that responds directly to their needs.
Admit you don’t have all the answers and share your research process with local people. No one knows the place where you are developing better than locals, so invite them to feed into your research and be open about your findings. Of course, you need to approach these conversations with communities with ideas and suggestions, but it is important that they are not fixed, and that you make clear they aren’t fixed.
Be honest with people about the commercial aspects. It may feel uncomfortable, but people know that developers are businesses and we have found that communities appreciate us being straightforward about the money side of things. It’s worth showing that the better a scheme works commercially, the better it can work for all – for instance, showing that building slightly higher may mean you can deliver more affordable housing or better public realm.
Contact the uncontacted
Next, expand how you consult. In the neighbourhoods where we work, we often find that around 70% of people have never been consulted about development before and don’t know they have a right to be. We need to make contact with that 70%. This means starting early – six months before the formal public consultation – and using the widest possible range of communications methods to try to catch everyone possible. Do not wait for locals to come to you, go knocking on doors and call people up, and keep finding new ways to consult. For our upcoming development in Leeds, we recently held an online workshop for local people to inform plans well in advance. A similar approach for our Digbeth mixed-used scheme at Bordesley Junction resulted in a discussion with local artists that led us to include creative workshops in the development.
Allow the community to co-design elements of schemes. At our Queen’s Quarter scheme in Croydon around 20 local people co-designed the park at the heart of the development, Queen’s Gardens, which will open later in the year. We took an open-book approach, sharing with the community the full parameters of the project, including budget, schedule and the regulations that applied. Our landscape architects held the pen, but the park’s design is the product of local ideas, knowledge and history.
Virtuous circle
Placemaking is an over-used word and often developers don’t achieve it, but true placemaking should be the basis of every community development. The key to getting it right is to focus on the reason you were interested in developing the site in the first place, and then to retain that when you develop at large scale. Quality of place is made of more than the four walls of a home, it is the space around the home and what goes on there.
Deliver the highest standards of design. Work with the best possible architects and support – and push – them to do their best work, through collaborative working and fair contract terms. Providing opportunities for emerging architects will improve the flow of fresh ideas too. For example, we have done two competitions with Archiboo to find new talent, which has led to us working with not only the winners but the majority of the shortlisted entrants too on new ideas such as housing that aims to support young people hit by the pandemic’s economic impact.
Finally, working with ESG-minded partners can have a significant effect on how the public sees developments. Investors are increasingly wanting to see a social impact return for community development investments, and this is something we should celebrate and talk to communities about.
By taking these steps, the real estate industry can win public confidence and in doing so we will harness local knowledge, resulting in creating the best places to live. This is a virtuous circle that can only lead to better outcomes for everyone.
Damien Sharkey is managing director at HUB
