Land banking a concern, says commission
Problems caused by so-called ‘land banking’ have been flagged up in the recent inquiry into the supermarket sector.
The Competition Commission’s initial report (a follow-up is expected next year) into the grocery industry – focusing primarily on the activities of the ‘big four – has said that possible reforms to take back undeveloped land being held by supermarkets is one possible option to even up the opportunities in the sector. Legal observers, however, have noted the difficulties of determining the merits of specific cases.
This third investigation into the sector in just seven years has also failed to placate some opponents of the big four – Asda, Morrisons/Safeway, Sainsbury and Tesco – who say that their dominance is bad for local economies. However, smaller retailers will not be pleased by the possibility of more relaxed planning rules for edge-of-town development – one of the recommendations of the commission.
On land banking, the commission found 110 sites it said were possibly being held to frustrate a competitor, with 187 areas where one of the big four had both a dominant position locally and also held substantial land holdings.