Over the last eight years, nearly 17,000 new homes were built in the West Midlands, meaning housebuilding for the region has more than doubled
The latest figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) come as the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) continues to unlock more land for housing and lay down standards of affordability, design and energy efficiency.
A total of 16,938 properties were built in 2018/19 – a 15% rise on the previous year and twice the UK average increase – that compares to just 7,500 homes built in 2011.
Gareth Bradford, WMCA director of housing and regeneration, said: “We are turning derelict land into vibrant new communities and developing new modern, construction methods so we can build more homes at pace. At the same time, we are training local people in the skills needed to build these new homes.
“Ultimately we want to make sure everyone has the opportunity of a decent home and a worthwhile job but making sure we have enough homes in the future is a major challenge and there is still much to do.
“The good news is that since 2011 we have doubled the number of homes being built each year and these latest figures show how we have already hit the average annual rate we needed to hit in 2031.
“So this collective effort by the region, which has seen councils, local enterprise partnerships, and others working together through the WMCA housing and land delivery board, has radically closed the gap between what we planned to deliver and what has actually been delivered while all the time retaining a focus on brownfield land.
“This underpins the commitment we gave to Government in our Housing Deal last year so it’s great to see the region turning ambition into a reality that people can see and touch.
”The latest MHCLG figures show that in the metropolitan area Coventry saw the biggest increase – nearly 37% – followed by Birmingham with a 32% uplift. In the wider WMCA area Tamworth recorded a 109% increase.”
Meanwhile, work by the WMCA to drive forward new developments has been accelerating in recent weeks.
Only this month (November) the WMCA allocated a further £30m to buy or clean up another seven brownfield sites and get them ready for new housing or commercial developments.
These schemes alone will see a further 800 new homes built and around 200 of these will be affordable.
