Increase the supply of housing and employment land

Our aim is for Greater Birmingham to be renowned for its sustainability and resilience, with an unrivalled quality of life offer. We will create the right environment for our businesses and people to flourish, and will ensure that our plans meet the needs and aspirations of those that live, work and invest here.

High-quality housing is crucial to attracting and retaining talented individuals, and to improving quality of life. Equally, high-quality employment land is vital to attracting greater investment and encouraging more businesses to start and grow here. Across the wider LEP area, pressure is therefore growing to meet demand for housing and employment land.

Supporting housing growth is crucial to sustaining the economic growth of Greater Birmingham. Major priorities for GBSLEP are to ensure that the rate of house building is significantly accelerated and that the homes that are built are of an appropriate mix of tenure and affordability to match the needs and ambitions of our communities.

In addition, land for employment sites, particularly strategic employment sites that can attract internationally mobile capital, is in short supply. Whilst Greater Birmingham has a healthy pipeline of sites for office development, the supply of land for large industrial units falls severely short: it is estimated that just 3 years of growth can be accommodated at present.

To ensure an appropriate supply of housing land and employment land, we will:

• Publish the Infrastructure Framework, setting out the key opportunities for housing and employment growth in Greater Birmingham to 2031
• Develop measures to help accelerate the rate of house building by working with industry to understand and overcome its key challenges and barriers
• Ensure an appropriate mix of tenure and affordability of homes across Greater Birmingham, with new developments meeting the needs and aspirations of our communities
• Maximise the productive use of employment land, reflecting the needs of both aspirational indigenous businesses and those that will attract foreign direct investment (FDI)
• Work collaboratively with the WMCA on its various work programmes relating to housing land and employment land

You can download our Housing Framework here.

The appendix to the Housing Framework is available here.