Building begins on hundreds of affordable West Midlands homes

Regeneration specialist Vistry Partnerships and local housing association Citizen have started building more than 430 homes across three sites in the West Midlands.

Once complete, the developments will provide more than 240 affordable homes across the region, greatly increasing opportunities for local people to find an affordable home.

In Kidderminster, the two organisations are working together to build 246 homes at their 17-acre Churchfields site. 100 of the homes will be available for open market sale through Citizen’s Signature brand, while the remaining 146 will be affordable homes. As part of the project, a 100-year-old warehouse is also being converted into one and two-bedroom flats.

Elsewhere, a 2.6-hectare brownfield site off York Road in Birmingham is being transformed into 87 two, three and four-bedroom homes. Over 75 percent of the houses built will be available for affordable rent, plus a further 21 homes available for Shared Ownership. Developed in partnership with Homes England, the scheme will pilot some innovative Modern Methods of Construction, with each property featuring a closed panel timber frame solution.

Finally, work has also begun for 82 new homes at the former Ridge Hill Hospital in Dudley. The site will feature 34 affordable homes and, alongside York Road, is being built in partnership with Homes England.

Commenting on the start of construction, Darren Beale, Managing Director at Vistry Partnerships West Midlands said: “It’s fantastic to see work underway on these three new developments with Citizen which are going to provide hundreds of affordable homes across the West Midlands and transform some previously redundant brownfield sites in the process. Each of these developments offers something unique, and when combined, they will be a major boost to the region’s housing, giving local people a great opportunity to get on the property ladder.”

Citizen’s Executive Director of Development Nick Byrne added: “We’re pleased to be working with Vistry Partnerships again and that work has started on all three of these sites across the West Midlands to provide more than 430 homes. Each site will feature a considerable amount of affordable housing which will help with the housing demand in the area.”

“We’re looking forward to seeing these sites develop over the coming months.”

Overall, Vistry Partnerships and Citizen are currently building more than 1,000 homes together, with a further 600 properties already under development at the former Lea Castle hospital in Kidderminster.