ULI UK ‘YL360’ Infoburst

Report Summary: ULI UK Young Leaders ‘YL360’ is a new roundtable series facilitated by a group of our Young Leaders committee members Caoimhe Loftus, Theodora Beckett, Pauline Niesseron and William Polisano. This series of focused discussions will take place across 2022 and is designed to peel back the layers on some of the industry’s most important, but often overlooked, topics. For each event, a handful of ‘expert contributors’ and Young Leader members come together around a table for a 90 minute deep dive into specific subjects. Summarizing the discussion and outlining some of the most important points raised, a short infoburst is then developed and published to the wider ULI network.

Background:

The ULI UK Young Leaders were delighted to kick off their YL360 Roundtable Series with an in-depth discussion about ‘Small Sites’. Over the course of 90 minutes on a Thursday evening at PLP Architecture’s offices in the City of London, participants contributed a range of views on everything from the definition of a small site, to the complexities in sourcing, financing and developing them.

The Attendees:

Around the table were four industry experts operating in the Small Sites space from both the public and private sector, along with four Young Leaders with a keen interest in the topic. The roundtable was chaired by the UK Young Leaders Executive Committee Chair, Yohance Harper.

The Numbers:

At least 52,000 new homes are needed every year for the next 20 years to meet demand for homes in London, and it is now widely recognized that small sites must make a bigger contribution to the delivery of these homes. Indeed, the London Plan sees a requirement for small sites to account for almost a quarter of all housing supply.