Hundreds more families to get safe and affordable homes after region handed more powers and funding

Hundreds more families are set to benefit over the next 12 months from new homes that are safe, decent and affordable thanks to an unprecedented shift in power, funding and responsibility from Westminster to the West Midlands.

More than 1,700 new homes are expected to be funded from the region’s new £389m Integrated Settlement, which was secured from government by Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands last month (April).

The Settlement, which includes nearly £63m for housing and regeneration, will help bolster the Mayor’s commitment to drive the delivery of more homes, with a particular focus on affordable and social housing. It will also unlock ‘place making’ schemes that create vibrant communities and regenerate high streets and other urban centres.

With 7,148 households, including 14,229 children, living in temporary accommodation and 65,335 households on the region’s housing waiting lists, the Mayor has made the construction of new social and affordable homes one of his four key priorities.

And figures released this week show that since taking office 12 months ago the Mayor has used West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) funding to unlock schemes that will provide more than 500 new social homes, which is more than in all the schemes the authority has ever grant funded.

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, at the site of the Yardley Brook development in Birmingham where 150 new social homes are being built

The Settlement, alongside the WMCA’s existing housing funds, will be used to help drive the Mayor’s ‘Homes for Everyone’ priority.

The figure of 1,770 homes, which will include a significant number of affordable and social housing, has been set out in the Integrated Settlement Outcomes Framework which shows the impact of the new funding on the regional economy and people’s standard of living.

The Mayor said: “The Government is backing our region by putting funds and powers into the hands of local leaders and we will use this money to provide more homes for those communities that need them most. 

“Everyone deserves a warm, safe and affordable home but too many families are having to wait too long, forced to live in expensive and often poor quality rented or temporary accommodation. 

“I’m committed to changing lives for the better which is why, in my first year in office I’ve unlocked more social housing at a faster pace than ever before. 

“This is all part of my mission to deliver growth, jobs, homes and journeys for everyone.”

The Mayor has set a target of 2,000 new social homes a year by 2028 to help tackle the housing crisis, while also training local people in construction skills so they can get jobs building those homes. 

The region’s first ever Integrated Settlement, a cornerstone of the West Midlands’ devolution deal with government, will cut bureaucracy and give the Mayor and local leaders greater control, choice and power to focus the money on regional priorities.

Between now and March 2026 it will deliver services and projects that had previously relied on the region’s ability to win multiple grants from different government departments. 

As part of the ongoing devolution of powers and funding to the West Midlands, the region expects future Integrated Settlements to span multiple years and to see additional funding – for skills, employment support, business growth and to tackle climate change – brought under regional control.

The Mayor will travel to Leeds next week to join other West Midlands leaders and councils to showcase more than £19 billion worth of investment opportunities at the UKREiiF property show.

Key projects to be presented to investors and developers include the Sports Quarter regeneration scheme in East Birmingham and the region’s three Investment Zone sites - the Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, Coventry & Warwick Gigapark and the Wolverhampton Green Innovation Corridor.