How metro mayors can help get Britain building

The government's ‘Plan for Change’ reaffirmed its commitment to “rebuild Britain”, and set out ambitious housebuilding and infrastructure targets. Whilst greenfield development is back on the agenda – with plans to build on ‘grey belt’ sites and a New Towns taskforce – the regeneration of cities and towns will be just as critical for meeting the government’s milestones. 

Metro mayors are in prime position to make this happen. Armed with an array of powers and significant budgets, mayors can transform their regions – with new Institute for Government research highlighting how they have done so, and offering key lessons for mayors and the government alike.

Set a clear and persuasive vision

Metro mayors should lead from the front by setting a bold vision for their regions and leveraging their political capital to draw in investment from across the public and private sectors.

Spatial development strategies (SDS) – statutory regional planning documents – are set to play a key role, with the government aiming for all mayors to have one in place, calling in their ‘Plan for Change’ for these to be aligned with local growth plans.

But as it stands, just five of the 12 mayors have powers to create SDSs and to date only London, where the mayor has a statutory duty to do so, has successfully put one in place. In part, this is due to barriers such as combined authority voting requirements. Greater Manchester’s SDS was shelved in 2020 when Stockport council withdrew support for the plans.  ¹³ Whelan D, ‘Blow for GMSF as Stockport quits’, Place North West, 4 December 2020, retrieved 3, December 2024, www.placenorthwest.co.uk/blow-for-gmsf-as-stockport-quits  The Institute for Government has argued that if the government is serious about universal adoption, then it should strengthen mayoral powers to create them by removing unanimity requirements.   ¹⁴ Note that the North East Combined Authority already doesn’t require unanimity to pass a SDS. Though unanimity is required to confer the power to the mayor to start the process of creating one. For more information, see North East Combined Authority, Constitution, May 2024, retrieved 4 December 2024, www.northeast-ca.gov.uk/governance/constitution

Embrace the full suite of powers available

Urban regeneration isn’t one-size-fits-all. It is vital that mayors consider the full suite of powers at their disposal and tailor their interventions to meet the needs of a place.

This can involve allocating devolved funds to unlock projects being brought forward by the private sector or local partners. For example, funding from Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire, is being used by Bradford council to transform the city centre.

Mayors can also intervene by directly delivering schemes themselves. This might be by creating delivery vehicles such as mayoral development corporations (MDCs) or by entering into joint ventures – as the mayor of the West of England has done to deliver the Bristol Temple Quarter.  ¹⁵ Homes England, ‘Bristol Temple Quarter Limited Liability Partnership incorporated’, press release, 2 April 2024, retrieved 6 December 2024, www.gov.uk/government/news/bristol-temple-quarter-limited-liability-partnership-incorporated

Furthermore, devolution has enabled mayors to innovate and develop new ways of transforming sites. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has pioneered the  ‘Mayoral Development Zone’ – a formal governance structure to oversee the regeneration of an area. Unlike MDCs, these aren’t legal entities so don’t have specific powers, but they can be quick to set up and effective at bringing together stakeholders around a shared vision.

Maximise the potential of mayoral development corporations

MDCs can turbocharge the regeneration of an area by using legal powers over planning, land assembly and infrastructure delivery. Furthermore, these bodies can attract top talent from across the public and private sectors, provide a stable long-term vision for investors to buy into and offer insulation from political cycles.

The model was first created to drive regeneration after the 2012 Olympic Games. Since then, five more MDCs have been established across the country and interest in the model is growing. In the past year, Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham and Kim McGuinness have expressed their intentions to create new MDCs, including on London’s Oxford Street.

MDCs can spend substantial amounts of public money and typically have significant private sector representation on their boards. This comes with risks: in 2024 the government commissioned an independent review into South Tees Development Corporation following allegations of corruption and illegality. Whilst no evidence of this was found, the lesson is clear: to maintain public trust, it is crucial that mayors establish strong oversight and accountability mechanisms for MDCs.

Align regeneration with other devolved functions

Urban regeneration shouldn’t happen in isolation. To maximize its impact, metro mayors should integrate it with other devolved functions over transport, environmental and skills.  

This has already been happening, with the mayor of Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, setting up a skills academy within the South Tees Development Corporation and the mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, championing flood-resilient design in the Forge Island redevelopment in Rotherham.  ¹⁶ SYMCA, ‘SYMCA invests £150m in transformative projects across South Yokshire’, press release, 11 September 2024, retrieved 9 December 2024, www.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/news/article/0befccdd-8585-461b-a98e-daba3be96cf6

The role of mayors is set to expand further, with the government’s white paper on English devolution set to reveal the government’s plans to deepen mayoral powers and roll out devolution to new parts of England.

With the government committed to an ambitious programme of housebuilding and infrastructure development, England’s growing cohort of metro mayors will be key to making a reality of these ambitions.