Staff Profile:Professor Michael Ball

Name:

Professor Michael Ball

Job Title:

Professor of Urban and Property Economics

Responsibilities:

Areas of Interest:

Michael's research interests cover housing studies, urban economics, commercial property investment and real estate markets, urban regeneration, land-use planning, urban history and construction economics.

Previous academic posts include Professor of Urban Economics at London South Bank University and Senior Lecturer in Economics at Birkbeck College, University of London. He has been a visiting academic at several universities in Europe, the USA, Latin America and Australia. He is also Director of UPE Consultancy Ltd, London, which undertakes urban, construction and real estate research for a wide variety of public and private sector clients.

He has published extensively, co-authored the textbook, the Economics of Commercial Property Markets, and is author of the annual RICS European Housing Review ( http://www.rics.org), which is the prime publication on European housing markets.

He is Lead Panel member of the Housing Market and Planning Analysis (HMPA) Panel of the Department of Communities and Local Government and has advised many other public and private bodies. Papers by HMPA panel members are available on the: Housing Markets and Planning Analysis page in the Reseach area of this website.

He co-chairs the Economics Group of the European Network for Housing Research.

Research groups / Centres:

• Centre for Real Estate Research
• International Centre for Housing and Urban Economics (ICHUE)

Publications:

• Modern Housing Market in the UK – Origins and Prospects, National Association of Property Professionals, October 2008.
• Large-scale investor opportunities in residential property: an overview. Investment Property Forum Research Findings, November 2007.
• Ball, M. Markets and Institutions in Real Estate and Construction, Oxford: Blackwell, 2006, 256pp.
• Ball, M. RICS European Housing Review 2008. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Research Report, London: RICS, 2008, 155pp.
• Ball, M."Localisation versus globalisation: some evidence from real estate services organisations" Journal of Housing and Built Environment, 22.1, 2007, 91-106.
• Ball, M. and Glascock, J.L. Property Investment Funds for the UK: Potential Impact on the Private Rental Market. London: Council of Mortgage Lenders, 2005, 39pp.
• Ball, M. and Maginn, P.J. Urban Change and Conflict: Evaluating the Role of Partnerships in Urban Regeneration in the UK. Housing Studies, 2005, 2(1), 9-28.
• Ball, M. The Future of Private Renting in the UK, 2004.London, Social Market Foundation, 2004, 67pp http://www.smf.co.uk/site/smf/publications/privaterenting
• Ball, M. Co-operation with the Community in Property-led Urban Regeneration. Journal of Property Research, 21(2), 2004, 119-142.
• Ball, M. and Maginn, P.J. The Contradictions of Urban Policy: The Case of the Single Regeneration Budget in London. Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy 2004, volume 22(5), 739 to 765.
• Ball, M. Is There an Office Replacement Cycle? Journal of Property Research, 20(2), 2003, 173-189.
• Ball, M., Le Ny, L. and Maginn, P. Synergy in Urban Regeneration Partnerships: Property Agents' Perspectives. Urban Studies, 40(11), 2003, 2239-2254.
• Ball, M. Markets and the Structure of the Housebuilding Industry: An International Perspective, Urban Studies, 40(5/6), 2003, 897-916.
• Ball, M. and Antonioni, P. Diversification as a Strategy For Minimising Fluctuations in Construction Firm Turnovers. In Thalmann, P. Construction Dynamics and Urban Economics, p.11-38, Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2003.
• Ball, M. and Tsolacos, S. Commercial Property Forecasting: the Devil is in the Data. Journal of Property Research, 2002, 19(1), 13-38 .
• Ball, M. Professions in Property Markets: an Economic Analysis. In Henneberry, J. and Guy, S. Development and Developers: Perspectives on Property. Blackwell: Oxford, 2002.
• Ball, M. and Sunderland, D. An Economic History of London, 1800-1914. , Routledge, London, 2001

Qualifications:

MSc Economics (London School of Economics)

PhD Economics (University of London)

Current and Recent Research Projects

• Planning delay and housing supply, 2007-8 ESRC funded (with Phil Allmendinger and Cathy Hughes): See REP working paper series

• International comparisons of housebuilding firm size structures http://www.rics.org/Knowledgezone/Researchandreports/ball_260608_research.htm

• Private rental housing market

• Dynamics of European housing markets