Birmingham City Council has approved Dandara Living’s application to deliver over 1,300 new homes and 30,000 sq ft of commercial space at Warner’s Fields in Digbeth
Work can now begin to regenerate the brownfield site, located within a mile of the city centre in Digbeth.
The development will create a new sustainable neighbourhood centred around a renaturalised River Rea.
The river that flows through the site is currently inaccessible to the public.
Dandara will invest in landscaping the river to create new public spaces along its banks and lay the foundations for a mixed-use destination a short walk from the city centre.
Rachel Allwood, planning director at Dandara Living, said: “The redevelopment will deliver much-needed new homes to meet Birmingham’s housing need and drive the ecological and environmental transformation of this part of the city by renaturalising the River Rea and delivering significant net biodiversity gain.”
The first phase of extensive regeneration planned for the area
The first phase of the development is set to spearhead the delivery of the Council’s Rea Valley Urban Quarter regenerations.
The development will see the excavation of the River Rea for the first time in decades, alongside the creation of over 1,300 new homes.
Importance of new homes in Digbeth
The initial investment will catalyse the construction of successive phases, bringing much-needed regeneration into the area.
Following the initial phase, the development will continue to evolve, introducing new homes, workspaces, commercial areas, and active travel routes in Digbeth.
In April this year, socioeconomic experts at Marrons reported that Birmingham’s housing crisis is set to become the worst in the UK.
The research found that Birmingham will need to build more than 127,600 homes in less than two decades, the most needed for any English local authority area.
The development will help to address Birmingham’s pressing housing needs whilst revitalising the areas with community-focused improvements.
