The Tees Valley Renaissance

Building the momentum

The Tees Valley is flourishing and its extraordinary transformation is set to continue. Across the sub-region there are developments springing up – and in planning – that will play a huge part in the future prosperity of the region, many of national significance.

The Tees Valley Combined Authority has been at the forefront of this powerful investment programme and its ten-year plan will further boost the fortunes of not only the sub-region but also across the whole of the North East and beyond. And there are many other key stakeholders that are having a say in the future of Tees Valley also.

The Roundtable brought together some of these stakeholders – property companies that are leading the renaissance of Tees Valley. The discussion focused on how Tees Valley’s amazing momentum can be maintained and even advanced, while looking at some of the challenges and issues that still need to be resolved post-Covid.

As a stakeholder of the 2021 Tees Valley Renaissance Round Table, Kevin Parkes Director & Co Founder of the Whatif Group says of Value Aspirations, “Sometimes the aspiration value on schemes is very high and to get real value you need to create the place and the environment where people want to live. This is the only way to drive values to the levels to meet aspirations of the land owner. I was working at Middlesborough Council when the Pandemic began. You have to scrap and work your socks off  to get everybody pointing in the right directiom. We’re working more natonally, we’re finding local agents are much more in touch with the values and understand the local market better.”

He says that ,”Development finance is critical. The problem is that many towns across the North just haven’t got the products available because the development finance isn’t there for people to speculate and to build in advance. The whole transactioanl conveyancing process is really long now compared to what it used to be and this is slowing down and is toxic in terms of projects. My hope is that development finance becomes more readily available in the whole of the North of England, as this is holding us back.”

In respect of sustainabilty kevin states, “It’s been fascinating for me to step outside Tees Valley and to see that sustainability is a massive agenda almost everywhere we work but in the North East.  It’s shocked me how much the Private sector is way ahead of the Public sector on this. I think that local government is quite slick these days in the main, I think often its the Quangos who are creating such a back log, only responding 13 to 14 weeks after you give them the initial consultation, and this is just not good enough.”  I

f you would like to know more about the WhatIf Group and the plans they have for future sustainable developmnents, please contact kevinparkes@reverent-kirch.91-238-163-161.plesk.page  OR  paulwright@reverent-kirch.91-238-163-161.plesk.page

To read thr full report please see https://www.insidermedia.com/roundtables/tees-valley-renaissance-roundtable-2021              Thu 7 Oct 2021 Jacksons Law Firm, Stockton