Manchester Aims At Speculative Tower Proposals

Manchester Aims At Speculative Tower Proposals

Published on 08-10-2009 by Skyscrapernews.com
A nice way to increase the value of the property you own has been to apply for planning permission to get a tall building built on it where before there was no such permission.

It's a trick that many companies have used to increase the value of what's on their balance sheets without ever having to actually build a thing, as well as increase the value of neighbouring plots they might also own.

The City of Manchester has however begun to notice the bad effects that this can have with the draft copy of new core strategy document on tall buildings recognising this has socially negative affects on an area.

Stating that it can "distort the market in an unacceptable manner", the council is now at the early stages of pondering changing its planning rules so that schemes that are speculative rather than feasible may struggle to get planning permission.

"The Council will not therefore support proposals for tall buildings that are speculative and do not have identified end users. It will be necessary for the applicant/developer to demonstrate that proposals for tall buildings are viable and deliverable."

If you're a property speculator engaged in land grabs this is bad news, but if you're anyone else in Manchester who is fed up with huge plots laying empty, often deliberately, with the streetscape ruined whilst the land value increases it's a lot more positive.

Of course the documents are still at an early stage of consultation and everything is up for grabs. So undeveloped are the current rules on tall buildings in Manchester, that the city is one of the few that not only does not have a policy, but has actively resisted it.

Proposals such as the above indicate that finally the times are changing and Manchester could end up with a sound tall building policy that will finally see some coherent development rather than the piecemeal approach that it has gone through in the last property cycle.

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