Private Real Estate Developers Stimulate 'Mister Rogers Effect'

Housing redevelopment leads to healthier, happier neighborhoods, 
as well as economic benefits — new report

Neighborhoods that see the redevelopment of rundown properties experience short and long-term social benefits, as well as economic ones, according to a new report published today. Drawing on multiple authoritative industry and government data sources, as well as original research, the report shows:

• Development creates economic value: New analysis shows that the values of comparable neighboring residential properties increase by between 4.8%-13.0% when new housing developments are undertaken, outpacing local market growth; 
  
  
• Development creates jobs: One new job is created for every two new home sales, and 0.75 jobs for every $100K invested in rehabbing; 
  
  
• Development stimulates the local economy: Small businesses such as shops and cafes are more likely to locate in streets where they are neighbored by attractive residential properties, rather than vacant or rundown buildings;
  
  
• Development leads to health and happiness: As well as costing cities money and proving an eyesore, vacant and rundown properties increase crime rates, fire risk, and contribute to higher levels of anxiety among local residents; the enhanced visual amenity of a neighborhood may therefore be said to contribute to greater levels of health and happiness among local residents.

We have long been convinced that local, private real estate developers play a vital role not just in our economy, but in the life of our nation, and its neighborhoods. This research shows that each new housing development or rehab brings long-term economic benefits, and may also make local residents happier and healthier. We are calling this ‘The Mister Rogers Effect’.

Meeting the housing need

The report also highlights the role that the nation’s 50,000 private real estate developers have in helping to meet the demand for housing. According to various estimates, there is a national housing shortage of between 3.8M and 6.8M homes, with a gap between demand and supply that grows every year. 

Not only can the major house builders not meet that demand, but they are generally not interested in redeveloping individual properties. That’s where private real estate developers come in. They redeveloped or built more than 800,000 properties last year; that’s 800,000 homes that would otherwise not exist, or be unfit for purpose. We should be doing all we can to make it as easy as possible for this nation’s army of real estate entrepreneurs to redevelop and build more homes like this.

Upright Lending was originally established as a means of enabling private real estate developers to access funding for their projects, removing friction at every stage of the process, from finding investment properties, financing, construction and management, through to disposition.