Homes intended to serve as the athlete’s village for the Commonwealth Games will be sold, but one plot will be retained to provide homes for those on the social housing waiting list
Birmingham City Council has announced a plan to retain 213 vacant newly-built homes for use as social housing.
The homes, built as part of the Perry Barr regeneration scheme, were due to be sold but have remained empty since April 2023.
The council will buy the 213 homes using Housing Revenue Account (HRA) funds. The remainder of the 968 homes at Perry Barr will be sold.
According to the council report, the HRA has an annual budget for 213 units of supply. It can also use Right to Buy funds to fund 40% of either the acquisition or development of properties.
The council said “this funding can be used to buy the 213 units in plot nine at Perry Barr, reducing the reliance on new build programmes planned to commence during the financial year.”
The plan to use the Perry Barr regeneration scheme as the Athlete’s Village for the 2022 Commonwealth Games was scrapped in August 2020 due to construction delays, which the council attributed to covid-19-related restrictions.
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During phase one of the regeneration scheme, four plots of residential accommodation, consisting of 968 flats, have been constructed. Of the 968 homes, 312 were designated as affordable housing.
In 2021, the cabinet approved plans to sell the scheme, which included the sale of plot nine for private sale and build-to-rent purposes.
On Tuesday, a report was presented to cabinet recommending that the council acquire 213 units “high standard, low carbon social housing” on the site to help house the 23,000 people on its waiting list. The report stated that the homes will be filled within “a short time period” and that a portion of those who will be given homes will currently be in temporary accommodation.
The council has not yet confirmed whether the homes will be for social or affordable rent.
The council noted that the government-appointed commissioners, who it is working with to address the nearly £400m deficit in its budget, “are supportive of the recommendations and welcome the provision of 213 much-needed affordable homes.”
In February, commissioners raised concerns about the council’s ‘non-decent’ housing stock in a letter to the former housing secretary Michael Gove. The letter stated that BCC’s “housing stock has not received the investment or organisation attention required over a significant period.”
The council has also approved the creation of a specific housing management support team for the site.
The council’s Perry Barr 2040 masterplan states that more than £700m of public sector investment has gone into the scheme, with the BCC and local partners funding around a quarter of it, and 75% coming from central government.
Phase two of the scheme was granted outline planning consent to build up to 500 more homes in 2019.
Jayne Francis, cabinet member for housing and homelessness, said: “The country is in the grip of a severe national housing crisis, one that means demand for accommodation in Birmingham has never been higher.
“The council has successfully managed to attract investment to deliver 968 new homes in Perry Barr, in north-west Birmingham and 213 of these will be available for council housing.
“The decision to keep one of these plots to be used as council homes has been made after a detailed analysis of all possible options.
“It will boost the supply of homes for people in the city who are most in need, at a time when the number of people on the housing register has never been higher.”
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