UK Urban Regeneration
The faces of our towns and cities are changing. The Government has pledged hundreds of millions of pounds to the regeneration of deprived and run down areas across England and Wales. But what is the real cost of urban regeneration?
We are acting for communities that are being destroyed as a result of the Government’s Housing Market Renewal (“Pathfinder”) Initiative. These communities are often located in deprived areas, known as Pathfinder areas, in which people are being forcibly removed from their homes, to make way for refurbishment and new developments, on the grounds that this will regenerate the area. There are nine Pathfinder areas affecting up to 30 towns and cities across the country. Nationally, the project covers 700,000 homes and 2.5 million people.
PIL won a significant victory in a test case challenging the Urban Regeneration Agency’s use of its compulsory purchase order powers on behalf of a resident whose home was subject to the Urban Regeneration Agency (Edge Lane West, Liverpool) Compulsory Purchase Order 2005.
We are also acting for the Derker Community Action Group, a community group of over 200 individuals fighting to keep their homes in Oldham’s Derker ward, one of the poorest areas in the country.
PIL is the only law firm in the country to have launched a High Court challenge against the Pathfinder project.