Supply-Side Policies and Retail Property Market Performance

Many challenges currently face those operating in the retail sector. In the UK, where city centres form the focus for the majority of retail activity and investment, policy intervention is restricting growth outside this central area. This is forcing those responsible for the planning and management of the retail environment to identify new solutions to the pressures exerted by retailers demanding additional or new space; consumers who are increasingly demanding in terms of variety and scope of retail offer and accessibility, safety and environmental concerns; and, crucially, investors seeking to estimate future investment market potential. This paper seeks to unravel some of these issues and identify ways in which those responsible for the management of the supply of real estate in the retail core can best achieve future success of the market, attracting and maintaining an increasing market share of consumer spending and presenting vital investment opportunities. This paper explicitly considers supply-side issues using data aggregated at the functional market level to investigate the impact of the policies of local planning authorities within the local retail market. This requires the continued development of the methodological approach begun by Jackson and Watkins (2005) and involves the systematic analysis of the differential investment performance of local retail markets, specifically focusing on estimating the extent to which key supply-side factors are important in the determination of retail real estate investment market indicators.