Come May 5, when the votes have been counted and the winner has hopefully been announced, what does the West Midlands property industry want from its new mayor?
Richard Pettifor, partner at Gateley, wants them to bang some heads together. Speaking at EG’s Birmingham Question Time event, he cut to the heart of the challenges facing the new city regions by pointing out that years of competition and differences will need to be firmly brushed to one side.
“One of the first things [the WMCA mayor] will have to do is bang some heads together… the different authorities have all battled together for a long time. I’m yet to be convinced because some of the councils have a strong influence and strong leaders, and they will have to give up some of that power and be happy about it,” he said.
That isn’t to say there was scepticism generally for the new layer of local governance – the opposite in fact. John Griffiths, director at Savills, pointed out how much passion there was in the room for what a new mayor could achieve, contrasted to what he suspected was voter apathy outside the business community. And that is a potential problem.
Ross Blair, senior managing director at Hines UK, admitted he barely knew the mayoral process was running, adding that considering all the projects slated for the region and the investment required, the candidates need to get that message out better.
“You need a strong powerful leader that doesn’t just talk about it but makes things happen – look at Manchester.”
He also pointed to how London has benefited from having an elected mayor: “The London mayor has not always been a popular person, however they have always got things done, there has been clarity.”
The vast majority of the audience, from a quick poll, thought the new mayor would be positive for Birmingham and the city region, with the Conservative candidate and former John Lewis managing director Andy Street getting 69% of the room’s votes as the most likely to win. Let’s hope, for the property industry, EG’s poll proves to be one that is accurate.
Birmingham Question Time panel
- John Griffiths, director, Savills
- Richard Pettifor, partner, Gateley
- Laura Shoaf, managing director of Transport for West Midlands
- Ross Blair, senior managing director, Hines UK
- Huw Rhys Lewis, managing director, UK Central Solihull – Urban Growth Company
- Chair: Damian Wild, editor, EG
Olympic infrastructure
“We are the first place to have HS2 – it is our Olympics,” said Laura Shoaf, managing director of Transport for West Midlands.
It is a good comparison – and ambition – as London’s 2012 Olympics is reported to have brought £9bn of investment into east London. The Curzon masterplan for the new terminal area has an investment tag of around £1bn, but there are some key priorities. “We have good infrastructure across the region but it is at capacity,” said Shoaf, pointing out that when there is an accident on the M6, the whole region pretty much grinds to a halt.
Much of the £9bn of investment for London 2012 went into infrastructure and Huw Rhys Lewis, managing director at the Urban Growth Company, said he believes that if you build it, other investment will follow, or at least you must demonstrate a viable strategy.
“If you aren’t prepared to present a convincing plan, then investors and developers will go elsewhere. You have to be clear about what you are offering, that you have the political support and funding strategy,” he said.
Are the West Midlands’ strong links with the automotive industry and the time taken to get its first metro line built potential problems?
Shoaf said that people see the metro now and comment on how clean and modern it makes the city feel. Further, she believes being a ‘motor city’ should be a strength rather than a weakness in that it offered Birmingham and the city region an opportunity to be at the forefront of new transport technology. Shoaf described the city as a “living lab for transportation” and pointed to the driverless car trials starting in Coventry.
Does that mean driverless cars in Birmingham in the not too distant future? When pressed, Shoaf said perhaps in three to five years’ time.
Photographs by Edward Shaw
Richard Pettifor, partner, Gateley
PRS might be in its infancy as a sector in Birmingham – partly because of a legacy of a troubled city centre residential mark – but it’s an important part of the city and region’s overall residential offer and growth strategy. Richard Pettifor explains why
“I think what is now important for the city is the progression of housing from the student/graduate/early-20s through to the early-30s and bridging that gap where the younger generation want to live and work in the city centre as opposed to then moving out. It is also about bridging the physical gap of being able to own a home at an early age and the affordability of doing that.
“It is [important] because the people that are attracted to that market are the younger generation. They themselves want to be more flexible and want to be more mobile. A number of their employers will want them to be flexible and be more mobile simply because employers are spread throughout the UK in a greater way than they ever were before.”
What are the biggest threats to the West Midlands in the next five years?
Laura Shoaf, managing director of transport for West Midlands
“Congestion and air quality. There will be a lot of pressure on the network that will be an issue and as we are starting to see in London, there is ever more awareness [about air quality].”
Ross Blair, senior managing director at Hines UK
“Brexit’s impact on London. Chinese and Qatari investors perception on how Brexit plays out will impact on whether they invest in Birmingham. If they don’t think London has been hard hit, maybe they will return attention to the capital.”
John Griffiths, director at Savills
“Construction capacity. There’s an appetite to build more residential and commercial plus massive infrastructure projects, but upskilling people and nimbyism is threat.”
Richard Pettifor, partner at Gateley
“Competition. Every other city out there in the UK and the wider world is competing for the jobs and technology.”
To send feedback, e-mail stacey.meadwell@egi.co.uk or tweet @EGStaceyM or @estatesgazette
