Ian Barker, Partner and Head of Real Estate at Manchester law firm Berg, says that it's never going to be easy extracting funding from currently super-cautious sources, but it's definitely there - and local town halls are crucial to tipping the balance.
Mr Barker said:
"Developers, their advisers, even the public, should be doing everything they can to persuade their local authority to commit to putting something public sector-based in developments which have stalled, because anything with a government covenant is fundable - and once the government has committed, then funding for neighbouring commercial development is a great deal easier to get,"
Better still, moving rather than closing such a facility may actually release funding resource, maintain and improve that facility, and open up funding possibilities for the commercial sector involved in same-location development.
Equally, town halls should be encouraging suggestions from local people, businesses and professional advisers relating to developments that could be kick-started by bringing in local authority or fundable projects.
Ironically, if a local authority does close a popular and well-performing facility - which has a lot of loyalty from the local population - and moves it to a new development, then that loyalty is going to follow. If there's footfall, then that becomes attractive to potential funders of neighbouring commercial development.
It might also be a privately-operated service, retail outlet or leisure facility that is considered to be an important element of community life - whether it's important geographically, or to a particular section of the community.
There are quite a few examples of this across the country - everything from cafes and theatres to quango offices. The common factor is that government covenant."
