Devolution can make private finance easier to organise, but it cannot make an unviable project investible. Giving a mayor, combined authority or other strategic body responsibility for a place can align housing, transport, land, planning and public-service decisions into a proposition investors can understand. The money still depends on a credible delivery body, reliable funding, planning certainty, acceptable risk and a return or public-outcome model that stands up to scrutiny.
Stuart Howie, principal and head of regeneration at Avison Young, described the opportunity in Building on 19 June 2025: “While it is not a silver bullet for unlocking private finance, it can assist on several levels.” That distinction is the key to applying devolution in housing, infrastructure and regeneration.
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What devolution changes for an investment proposition
Private investors rarely assess a building, road or neighbourhood in isolation. They assess the place around it: who controls the land, whether planning can be secured, how transport and utilities will be delivered, what demand supports the revenue and whether policy will remain stable for the life of the investment. In a fragmented system, those decisions can sit with several councils, agencies and funding programmes. Each may have a valid objective, but the combined offer can be difficult to price or govern.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsA devolved or strategic authority can provide a coordinating layer. It may be able to set a shared spatial priority, assemble land, align transport and housing programmes, commission services across boundaries and present one route into the public sector. That can reduce transaction costs and make a long-term proposition visible to institutional, infrastructure or impact investors.
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Devolution does not automatically provide fiscal autonomy. A new power is not the same as a dependable revenue stream, a government guarantee or planning consent. An authority still has to demonstrate demand, viability, delivery capacity and a fair allocation of risk and reward. The useful test is therefore not “Has this area devolved?” but “Can this area now make and honour a specific investible offer?”
The four conditions investors need
1. A clear, place-based proposition
The proposition should state what will be delivered, where, over what period, for which users and with what public outcomes. A housing-led regeneration programme might combine homes, schools, transport and public realm; an infrastructure proposition might tie a station, utilities capacity and employment land to an agreed growth plan. Investors need a defined asset or portfolio, a credible demand case, a route to revenue and an explanation of how the wider place supports performance.
2. An empowered delivery body
Someone must be able to make decisions, sign contracts, acquire or contribute land, commission works and manage changes. The New Towns Taskforce’s advice for England stresses the importance of empowered delivery bodies. A committee that can discuss a project but cannot control its approvals, budget or land cannot provide the certainty a long-term partner requires.
3. Long-term funding certainty
Investors distinguish between an announced ambition and money that is committed through the relevant approvals. Multi-year funding, an identified source for enabling infrastructure and a plan for operating costs are especially important where returns arrive slowly. The New Towns Taskforce states: “Long-term certainty of funding is vital for the success of new town development.” That statement applies to its England new-town context; it is not a promise that every devolved project will receive funding.
4. Stable planning and policy conditions
Masterplanning, planning certainty, continuity and policy stability affect both value and timing. A partnership may tolerate normal development risk, but it cannot sensibly price repeated changes to density, tenure, infrastructure obligations or approval routes. A strategic authority should publish the decision rights, planning milestones and policy assumptions that underpin its proposition.
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How public finance can crowd in private capital
Public money can be catalytic when it absorbs a defined early risk, provides first-loss protection, funds enabling works or gives a partner enough certainty to commit its own capital. It should not be described as private finance. Authorities should state whether a figure is a grant, a government-backed loan, a commercial investment or additional private capital, and explain how “additional” was measured.
| Approach | Who carries early risk? | Control and land | What must be credible? | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant or public loan for enabling works | Public sector carries more initial risk or offers concessional terms. | Public control can remain relatively high if land and procurement stay public. | Defined gap, approved outcomes, repayment or grant conditions and a route to later investment. | Public exposure remains if costs rise or follow-on capital does not arrive. |
| Joint venture | Risk is shared under an agreed capital and governance structure. | Private expertise and capital may accelerate delivery; board and reserved-matter rights must be explicit. | Viable business plan, transparent valuation, decision rules and an exit or refinancing route. | Public control and a share of upside may be exchanged for delivery capacity. |
| Land partnership | Landowner and investor share development and market risk. | Assembled land can improve scale, but land-value uplift and control are shared. | Clean title, realistic appraisal, planning strategy and a transparent method for valuing contributions. | The authority may capture less uplift or have less direct control over phasing. |
| Private investment in build-to-rent | Investor generally carries development and operating risk, subject to the contract. | Investor can bring operational and commercial expertise; public requirements need enforceable terms. | Rental demand, specification, management model, planning consent and a durable policy framework. | Tenure, affordability and public-value objectives must be protected alongside returns. |
| Outcomes partnership or impact-capital model | Capital is linked to measurable social or environmental outcomes, with risks allocated by contract. | Control depends on commissioning, data and outcome governance. | Clear outcomes, baseline data, payment mechanics, safeguarding and capable commissioners. | Measurement and procurement can be complex; it is not a universal infrastructure-finance solution. |
The New Towns Taskforce identifies joint ventures and land partnerships as possible mechanisms and notes that private participation can reduce public capital requirements. It also warns that these structures can reduce public control or share land-value uplift with private partners. The right choice varies by place, financing type and duration; there is no single vehicle that suits every authority.
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A practical route from devolution to a financeable project
- Define the public problem and the investible unit. Separate the outcomes the authority must secure from the assets or services that can generate revenue. Specify homes, infrastructure capacity, employment space or service outcomes, rather than presenting “growth” as an unsupported investment case.
- Map powers, land and dependencies. List which body controls planning, highways, transport, utilities, housing, procurement and operating budgets. Record land ownership, title restrictions and third-party consents. Where a power is shared, name the approval and the date needed.
- Create one accountable delivery structure. Give a named body authority to commission, contract, acquire or contribute land and report performance. Publish board composition, reserved decisions, conflicts rules and escalation routes before approaching investors.
- Build the financial and public-value case together. Show capital costs, operating costs, revenue assumptions, public subsidy, downside scenarios and the outcomes being purchased. Explain what happens if values, rents, rates or delivery dates change. A project that works only under one optimistic forecast is not ready for market.
- Secure planning and enabling infrastructure. Complete the masterplanning and planning work needed to make the development envelope credible. Identify transport, utilities, schools and remediation requirements, and assign responsibility and funding for each dependency.
- Choose the risk-allocation model. Decide whether a grant, public loan, joint venture, land partnership, build-to-rent investment or outcomes partnership best matches the risk. State who funds cost overruns, who controls phasing and how returns, land-value uplift and public benefits are divided.
- Run compliant market engagement. Test the proposition with appropriate investors and delivery partners without promising preferential treatment. Use the feedback to correct assumptions, then procure transparently under the applicable rules.
- Protect continuity. Put milestones, reporting, data-sharing, change control and termination rights in binding documents. An investment proposition should survive an election, personnel change or restructuring better than an informal political commitment.
Capability barriers local authorities must address
The UK Government’s Social Impact Investment Advisory Group identifies practical constraints that can prevent public bodies from converting devolution into investment: limited skills and capacity, fragmented knowledge, weak coordination, unclear partnership pathways and regulatory or procurement barriers. These are delivery problems, not arguments against devolution.
- Commissioning and commercial skills: recruit or share specialists who can write outcome specifications, model risk, negotiate contracts and manage investor relationships.
- Finance and appraisal: maintain a common model for capital, revenue, subsidy, sensitivity tests and contingent liabilities so elected members and partners see the same assumptions.
- Data and evaluation: agree data ownership, privacy, baselines and reporting before an outcomes-linked arrangement is signed.
- Partnership pathways: publish how a prospective partner moves from initial contact to due diligence, procurement, approvals and contract management.
- Regulatory confidence: obtain early legal and procurement advice on subsidy control, state-aid successor rules where relevant, public-contract requirements, pensions guidance and local-government powers.
For impact capital, government’s role can shift from being only a funder to being a strategic partner that uses public capital to mobilise other contributions. That approach is most credible when the authority can evidence need, outcomes and commissioning capacity. The advisory group’s report concerns public-service and place-based impact investment; it does not prove that every transport, utility or housing scheme can attract impact investors.
What the Everyone In example does—and does not—show
The advisory group reports that £25 million in central government grants for the Everyone In pilot attracted £138 million in additional capital, described as a 5.5x multiplier. The programme concerned temporary accommodation. It is a single government-reported example of public funding crowding in additional capital, not a repeatable return, an investment yield or a causal estimate for unrelated regeneration projects.
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The same report says England’s temporary-accommodation system involved 120,000 households and £2.29 billion in annual local-authority spending. Those figures are reported by the advisory group for the period covered by its final report; they should not be read as a current national total without checking the underlying source and date.
New towns and long-term place-building
The New Towns Taskforce report, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 28 September 2025, applies to new-town delivery in England. Its investor conditions are useful for other long-term regeneration programmes, but they are not a complete financing model for every UK devolved administration.
For a new town or large urban extension, the investment case has to survive a long period between land assembly, infrastructure delivery, construction and occupation. A clear purpose, an empowered delivery body, funding certainty, masterplanning, planning certainty, policy stability and continuity therefore matter as much as the headline amount of capital. Private build-to-rent can be one component of a mixed-tenure programme, while a joint venture or land partnership may suit infrastructure and land assembly. Each arrangement needs transparent standards, risk allocation and public-benefit protections.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Risks that can undermine the proposition
Confusing political devolution with fiscal autonomy
A mayoral mandate or new statutory power does not guarantee borrowing capacity, grant or tax revenue. Present funding as committed, conditional or aspirational, and identify the approval needed to release it.
Overpromising control
Private capital may bring expertise and speed, but partners will seek governance rights. Document which decisions remain public, which are delegated and how disputes are resolved.
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Giving away value without a clear rationale
Land partnerships and joint ventures can share land-value uplift. Use independent valuation, publish the basis for contributions and test whether the public benefit justifies the share transferred.
Leaving procurement and regulation until late
An attractive concept can fail if the proposed route is not legally available or if procurement takes longer than the funding window. Build legal, pension, subsidy-control and procurement reviews into the first feasibility stage.
Assuming one investor type fits all outcomes
Institutional capital, impact investors, housebuilders and infrastructure funds have different return, duration and risk requirements. Match the partner to the asset and outcome instead of forcing every project into a fashionable structure.
A decision checklist for authorities and delivery partners
- Can one accountable body make the decisions investors need?
- Is the land position understood and independently valued?
- Are planning, transport, utilities and other dependencies on a dated delivery plan?
- Which funding is committed, which is conditional and which remains a bid?
- What revenue, payment or exit supports the private capital?
- Who carries early risk, cost overruns, demand risk and policy-change risk?
- What control, land-value uplift and returns will each party receive?
- How will public outcomes, affordability, quality and standards be measured?
- Does the authority have the commissioning, finance, data and contract-management capacity to deliver?
- Can the arrangement remain credible through political or organisational change?
When the answers are specific, devolution can turn disconnected projects into a coherent investment proposition. When they are not, devolution may simply add another layer of governance. The enabling condition is coordination backed by authority, funding certainty and delivery capability; private finance remains a decision made on the project’s evidence, risk and terms.
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