Birmingham announces major regeneration proposals for Ladywood

Ladywood, which is located in the city centre, has long been identified as a location that could deliver family housing alongside enhanced public spaces, pedestrian routes and community facilities.

The City Council will be seeking a development partner, who can demonstrate a successful track record of delivering housing regeneration initiatives, to lead the work on Ladywood.

The partner will be required to work closely with the local community to define a new masterplan for the area that responds to the needs of residents and delivers the scale of improvements envisaged through the Big City Plan.

Cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods at Birmingham City Council, Cllr Sharon Thompson, said “With the city’s population set to grow by 10% over the next 15 years, there is a pressing need to deliver more affordable, family housing within accessible locations. To this end, the regeneration proposal of Ladywood is a hugely ambitious project that will help us to transform and rejuvenate the neighbourhood.

“There is already tremendous community spirit in the area and so over the coming years, we want to work with residents to help shape this vision for Ladywood and ensure that everyone with a stake in the neighbourhood voices their ideas, concerns and suggestions and takes part in the consultation process so that the future is one that can be celebrated by all.”

Initial consultation with local councillors has already taken place and a ward forum will be happening on 19 February. Birmingham City Council officers will be in attendance to provide further information to residents and business owners and to hear ideas from the community about the process moving forwards.

Corporate Director for Economy, Waheed Nazir, said, “It has always been our intention, since we launched the Big City Plan in 2010, to bring forward a housing led regeneration initiative for the Ladywood area. With Birmingham now enjoying a significant renaissance there is an opportunity to secure a partner who shares our ambition to deliver more family housing and create a high-quality sustainable place for current and future residents. We will be launching a procurement process to find a partner shortly.”

Identified in the city’s Big City Plan the Ladywood area is located between the major redevelopments currently underway in Westside and along Broad Street and the housing growth planned at Greater Icknield.

While the appointment of a partner is the first step in what will be a process that spans several years, the main consideration for the regeneration will be community consultation. This, above all else, will be a pivotal element to any successful bid.

The decision to bring forward the regeneration initiative and commence the process to find a development partner was approved at the City Council’s Cabinet meeting on 12 February 2019.