MIPIM: Birmingham city council has unveiled its biggest ever housing plan to cater for unprecedented housing demand in the city.
The Birmingham Housing Prospectus, which has been formed from exclusive research carried out by Knight Frank on behalf of the council, is being launched at today’s MIPIM event in Cannes.
The research has been triggered by a rapid growth in the city’s population over the last decade. Birmingham’s population is set to increase further by 150,000 by 2031.
For the first time, the city has listed all housing development sites in one document, including 40 major brownfield sites. By launching the Birmingham Housing Prospectus at MIPIM, the council is hoping to attract £9bn of investment from the private sector to meet its target of 80,000 new homes.
Waheed Nazir, director of planning and regeneration at Birmingham council, said: “Traditionally, developers and investors have had to do all their own research, or employ land agents to find the best sites. We have made it easy for them by listing them all in this document all of the key sites for new housing. There is something in there for everyone – sites for student housing, for apartment development, for private rented developments, or for traditional suburban development of houses for rent and sale.”
Birmingham was recently voted the sixth most attractive city in Europe for property investment, outstripping London in 10th place, with the largest mix of residential, commercial and leisure development opportunities in Britain, according to research by PwC.
Mark Evans, partner at Knight Frank, added: “From our research it is clear that Birmingham is enjoying a post-recession renaissance, not only in terms of jobs and business growth, but also in the fabric of the city. What we are seeing is that the activity in Birmingham, in economic terms as well as public realm planning, is also helping feed the strong demand for housing, not only from the domestic population within Birmingham, but also from those from London and the South East looking to take advantage of the price.
“The city’s mix of regeneration, redevelopment and job creation, as well as the relatively lower entry price for property, means that its draw to homebuyers and investors will likely continue to grow in the coming years.”
