PROPERTY GRANTS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO REGENERATION IN THE WELSH ECONOMY - page 1Date added: 01/04/2003

Essentially, regeneration in the widest sense is about creating sustainable communities. This means providing the core social, economic and physical infrastructure to areas that are experiencing some form of "delivery failure" or "market failure". Property grants are mechanisms that can facilitate regeneration and as such they should be seen as a means to an end: the end being economic development and regeneration throughout Wales.

Approved by the European Commission in the Spring of 2001, property grants are administered by the WDA and are available to the private sector whether in the guise of owners, occupiers or developers.

Property Grants or mechanisms are important because:

• They allow the public sector to engage with the private sector to facilitate regeneration.
• They contribute to the health and wealth of an area or a business. Invariably they apply to assisted areas, which are given a higher priority. For example, West Wales and the Valleys.
• They improve confidence by mitigating risk, thereby facilitating investment by the private sector and giving the public sector the requisite leverage.
• They contribute to creating/improving a physical "product" (whether physical or environmental) and also contribute to sustaining businesses.
• They provide the key to remove barriers to development or business progression, and unlock "developments"/businesses, which might not otherwise happen or progress.
• They add value to the Welsh economy by contributing to an improvement in design standards, urban landscape/townscape, environment improvements and by sustaining communities by, for example, improving conditions for investment or job creation/consolidation.
• They can be applied for in tandem with RSA or Objective 1 applications as long as state aid limits are not exceeded.

In order to assess the economic benefits, we have analysed a sample of ten projects where we have secured grants for clients ranging from Business Premises Improvement Grant (BPIG) to Property Development Grant (PDG), including Town Improvement Grants (TIGs) and Regeneration Improvement Grant (RIG).