Response: Development corporation reform technical consultation

MHCLG’s consultation document gives a number of benefits of development corporations, including their ability to harness expertise from the private sector and their specific purpose to develop a strategic vision for the areas they operate in.

• As important as these benefits are, they pale in comparison with the significance of securing the powers and resources development corporations need to deliver on their strategic visions.

• This approach will only work if modern development corporations are properly-resourced and underpinned by reform of the Land Compensation Act 1961.

• Using development corporations effectively to meet the country’s housing and infrastructure needs also relies on learning the lessons from the past.

• One key insight is that development should be planned and delivered in collaboration with local people and statutory bodies, as well as with private sector actors where appropriate, to ensure that the projects development corporations pursue respond effectively to housing needs and preferences.

• We recommend that the government seeks to balance private sector involvement with community involvement and the involvement of local councils or groups of local councils, rather than seeking to prioritise further private sector involvement.