WMCA reveals housing construction in the region doubled

According to figures produced by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), housing construction in the West Midlands region has more than doubled over the course of the past eight years with 16,938 properties being constructed in the 2018/2019 year compared with just 7,500 in 2011.

Furthermore, if the region is to keep up with recent housing projections, 215,000 new homes will require construction by the year 2031 and, courtesy of the WMCA ‘brownfield policy’, will be built on derelict industrial land wherever possible.

The WMCA Director of Housing and Regeneration, Gareth Bradford stated: “These figures are great news for our region and show how the West Midlands is leading a house building revolution in the UK.

“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 is great to see the region turning ambition into a reality that people can see and touch.”

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