With a positive ten year track record of proactively creating collaboration between the public and private sectors, Developing Consensus works to highlight the specific importance of property, investment and development as major drivers of the North East’s economic prosperity. Members work to highlight factors affecting the sector and help unlock barriers to development and investment.
The group’s members, made up of leading private sector investors, developers and property agents, working alongside public sector partners in the North East of England, deliver major commercial and residential developments and construction.
This delivers an active and thriving property market and supports the long-term prosperity of the North East by making the region more attractive to investors.
Planning
Developing Consensus forges strong collaborative relationships between Local Planning Authorities, commercial developers and consultants to identify regional issues affecting decision making in planning.
Positive collaboration between the public and private sectors is imperative to deliver an efficient planning system, which can help the region flourish.
Private sector members and public sector partners collaborate closely to formulate joint strategies to overcome issues and barriers identified. Developing Consensus members actively provide advice, insight and support to aid improvements to planning processes, administration and applications.
The group also works to foster mutual understanding to help deliver a shared vision for strategic planning in the region, which will help to unlock future housing delivery, employment and infrastructure investment.
Enabling Development
A strategic challenge for the North East is delivering a pipeline of innovative development projects to help stimulate economic growth.
Aging building stock, slow supply of modern accommodation, undersupply of land and unviable project costs are some of the problems creating conditions which are stifling speculative development.
Developing Consensus is focused on supporting and delivering priority developments and key infrastructure projects which are crucial to creating high value and maximum impact for the future success of the regional economy.
Prioritising the most attractive propositions, increasing funding to enable development, and embracing equity investment will help break down barriers to delivery and ensure a pipeline of long-term supply.
Infrastructure3
Investment in infrastructure stimulates demand and opens up new opportunities which can deliver growth and accelerate investment.
A fresh approach to transport investment in the North East by the new Mayoral Combined Authority is welcome, as is the significant increase in funding available for future schemes.
Developing Consensus collaborates closely with authorities and public sector partners to help identify transport priorities and provides active support for development programmes. This ensures the right infrastructure is delivered in the right locations, delivering maximum value. This acts as a catalyst to attracting new investment, delivering new jobs, new homes and boosting economic growth.
The group also works alongside partners to encourage and unlock increased investment in both the digital infrastructure, and energy and grid infrastructure to help define priorities of maximum value which will help grow our economy.
Inward Investment
Developing Consensus believes competing for inward investment in national and international markets requires strong representation and a clear offer, supported by expertise and coordinated resources with the region working ‘as one’.
The new Mayoral Combined Authority offers a unique opportunity to forge a strong, singular inward investment operation for North East England with greater international reach and sufficient resources to be able to compete and attract external interest in investment within a demanding market.
The group plays an active role in ensuring the North East is development-ready to help attract inward investment from national and international markets, which help drive economic growth.
Junior Chapter
Our Junior Chapter was launched in November 2023 with the aim of supporting the next generation of property and development professionals in their career. The Junior Chapter both feeds into and has a voice within each of our pillar groups to put forward the views of those at the start of their career journey within the industry. To learn more about joining the Junior Chapter, e-mail Chapter lead Pippa Heron Pippa.Heron@igloo.uk.net .