Commercial Feature: Regenerating Brownfield in Birmingham

One of the things that makes me proud to work for Vistry, the UK’s leading provider of mixed-tenure homes, is being instrumental in completely transforming large brownfield sites into much-needed mixed tenure homes across the West Midlands. We do this in partnership with local authorities, housing associations and providers of private rented accommodation, delivering sustainable homes, communities, and social value, leaving a lasting legacy and high-quality family homes where they are needed most.

We recently announced a partnership with Sigma, one of the UK’s leading providers of build-to-rent properties, and Bromford, one of Britain’s largest housing associations, to build 688 desperately needed family homes at Longbridge, formerly home to the MG works. 250 of these homes will be affordable with a further 215 for private rent, 197 destined for the open market and the final 26 will be offered as First Homes, ensuring a broad range of housing options.

This is an important development that will contribute to Birmingham’s economic growth by providing new jobs and high-quality places to live. Like many major cities, Birmingham has a severe shortage of affordable homes; that’s something we’re addressing by going the extra mile to deliver affordable and social rent homes over and above what is required of us and delivering them at pace. 

Our City Hospital scheme on Dudley Road in Birmingham offers similar regeneration opportunities, transforming a challenging brownfield site into 750 high-quality, mixed-tenure homes. 

We share the government’s ambition to deliver new homes at scale and pace, and by working closely with Homes England and Birmingham City Council we will create a vibrant, sustainable new community that will not only meet the housing needs of the area but will bring both regeneration and valuable investment into the city.

In total, 35 per cent of the homes will be offered in affordable tenures, with the remainder delivered as a mix of open market sale, additional affordable housing, and homes for private rent (PRS), in line with our partner delivery model. 

Like all our developments in the Midlands, our homes will be built with a focus on sustainability, featuring a combination of air source heat pumps and PV panels for renewable electricity, whilst wastewater recovery systems will minimise water usage resulting in lower energy bills for residents. 

The homes will be manufactured off-site using open panel timber frames from the Vistry Works East Midlands factory in Leicestershire. Each home built using these panels emits 14,460kg CO2e less than a traditional brick-and-block house, reducing their impact on the environment.

We firmly believe that working in partnership is the key to the rapid delivery of homes that span multiple tenures, creating opportunities for people from all walks of life to live in a high-quality family home. We are helping tackle the housing crisis whilst establishing desirable and diverse communities across the region where people need them the most.