Birmingham targets 5,000 homes with new mayoral development corporation

Another scheme, promoted by Hammerson and the council, is targeting 1,300 homes in the Martineau Galleries, and already has outline permission.

Other projects undergoing pre-application work include up to 1,750 homes at Martineau Place and a new religious building with 480 apartments on Carrs Lane.

Bluecastle Capital’s scheme for 750 homes on a site by the planned HS2 Curzon station will be submitted to the council this month.

The council highlights the recent expansion of build-to-rent in the city as a sign that investor confidence is returning to the housing market, with nearly 7,000 new homes delivered through schemes worth £1.8bn in the last six years.

Alongside details of the individual developments, the council has set out how the regeneration will be brought forward.

The Birmingham East Mayoral Development Corporation will play a key role. The MDC is due to be set up in May, subject to agreement from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) board and Birmingham Council at a meeting next week.

The MDC was agreed in principle last October, and is expected to unlock £3bn of foreign direct investment once it is up and running, according to papers for the WMCA meeting.

It will aim to get the legal powers needed from the secretary of state to speed up regeneration projects.

These include the ability to: set up its own local planning authority and planning committee; create its own local plan; make compulsory purchase orders; and acquire land, have financial autonomy and provide business rate relief.

Additionally, a Mayoral Development Zone for the East Birmingham and North Solihull area has been agreed in principle and would work with the MDC if it is formally approved. 

East Birmingham is not the only MDC to be make the headlines this week.

Also at MIPIM, Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram revealed he is hoping to set one up in the city this autumn, while comedian and actor Steve Coogan spoke to Inside Housing about his plans as co-chair of a people-led MDC in Middleton, Greater Manchester.

Last month, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority revealed plans for three new MDCs in the region.

The government’s devolution bill, introduced last summer, aims to give mayors the power to set up MDCs more efficiently, as well as a raft of other planning powers.