A Surveyor’s Guide to Subsidy Control Principles

Introduction

Public authorities regularly grant financial assistance to developers and others in relation to property developments. This financial assistance may be categorised as a ‘subsidy’ under the Subsidy Control Act 2022. Subsidies that are not compliant with the Act may be found to be illegal, which could at the very least disrupt the progress of a property development and could seriously undermine its economics.

At the heart of the Subsidy Control Act are the seven general ‘subsidy control principles’ as well as the ‘energy and environment principles’. Compliance with these is fundamental for a subsidy to be legal. Applying these principles in a real estate context is challenging, and there is relatively little guidance at the moment for the important assessments that surveyors will often be required to make.

This short webinar is designed to equip surveyors with the tools to assess whether proposed financial assistance complies with subsidy control principles. Drawing on current subsidy control cases in the real estate development sector (Weiss v Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Thomas v Durham) as well as existing competition law relating to real estate matters, the webinar intends to provide a structured framework to evaluate subsidies, supporting robust, defensible decisions by public authorities and recipients of financial assistance.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this session, you will:

• Understand when financial assistance in property development may constitute a ‘subsidy’ under the Subsidy Control Act 2022
• Appreciate the importance of the seven general subsidy control principles and the energy and environment principles
• Recognise the challenges of applying these principles in a real estate context
• Gain insight from recent cases in the sector, including Weiss v GMCA and BEK Developments v Durham County Council
• Be able to follow a practical framework to assess whether proposed financial assistance complies with the subsidy control principles
• Support public authorities and recipients in making robust, defensible decisions

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Thursday 22nd October 2026

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 2,300+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.