The Government is being asked to put up funds to help build almost 9,000 new homes in Birmingham - with more than half earmarked for the Perry Barr area.
The £143.5 million regeneration of Perry Barr, including a potential athletes village, forms city’s largest single bid to the National Infrastructure fund.
With a national pot of £2.3 billion available Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority are making four bids totalling £185 million for housing in the city.
Much of the money would be used to help prepare land for construction - through demolition of existing buildings, removing flood risk, decontamination and even rerouting roads and other infrastructure.
The bids are:
• regeneration including 4,781 new homes, many on the former Birmingham City University campus, as well as new road layouts, bus route upgrades, community facilities and a revamp of the dingy rail station.
• £30 million towards where 3,500 homes are planned across five sites along with a new secondary school, an green energy generation scheme and improvements to Dudley Road.
• East Birmingham - a bid for £8.2 million to help prepare three sites for the construction of 907 homes. These are 225 homes on the Bromford Estate, 273 properties on the Yardley Sewerage Works and 409 homes at Acocks Green
• A bid for £3.2 million towards the development of 270 new homes on the estate. Plans could include the demolition of tower blocks and recently closed .
The Government has put up a national pot of £2.3 billion to fund housing schemes put forward by councils and it is likely they are going to be oversubscribed.
The council’s cabinet was told that although the housing at Perry Barr would be used as an athletes village if the Commonwealth Games bid is successful, the regeneration funding would not offset the city’s estimated £150 million contribution to the Games.
Cllr Karen McCarthy (Lab, Selly Oak) stressed that residents should also be fully involved in regeneration plans, particularly in Druids Heath. “It’s really important to have genuine discussion with residents. We don’t have a good track record of consultation,” she said.
Birmingham has outlined longer term plans to build 53,000 new homes by 2031 - including land east of Sutton Coldfield.
