Mayor launches Britain’s biggest and most powerful Development Corporation to drive £11bn regeneration of East Birmingham

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, today (Tuesday 19 May) launched Britain’s biggest and most powerful Mayoral Development Corporation to significantly speed up the £11bn regeneration of East Birmingham, one of the country’s most deprived areas.

The Birmingham East Mayoral Development Corporation (BEMDC) will generate a multi-billion-pound boost for the local and regional economy, positioning the West Midlands at the front of the UK’s charge for growth.

It will bring more than 50,000 jobs and 20,000 new homes to east Birmingham, where in some areas child poverty exceeds 50% and around 27% of adults have never worked – more than double the national average.

By combining a range of powers including land acquisition, planning, business tax incentives and infrastructure funding the MDC will be able to cut through red tape, build investor confidence and accelerate the injection of billions of private and public sector investment into the area.

It is the most significant to be launched in the UK since the London Legacy Development Corporation was set up to transform large parts of East London following the 2012 Olympic Games.

Sport will also be at the heart of the BEMDC, which includes land earmarked for the £3bn Birmingham Sports Quarter and its showpiece 60,000 seat Powerhouse Stadium, served by a new Metro tram route.

The MDC will cover an area the size of more than 600 football pitches, and include some of the biggest regeneration projects in the UK and Europe including:

• The £4bn Birmingham Knowledge Quarter
• The HS2 Curzon Street Station and adjoining Central Heart site
• The £2bn Smithfield development next to the Bullring
• A major creative industries hub in Digbeth

The Mayor launched the MDC to investors and developers at the UKREiiF real estate show in Leeds following a green light from government.

The Mayor said: “This MDC is big, bold and ambitious, reflecting Birmingham’s position as the UK’s second city.

“It will be a magnet for investment, de-risking major projects while providing the stability and continuity needed for investor confidence. It will also cut through red tape, so we waste no time getting spades in the ground on these hugely significant regeneration schemes.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to end the deep-rooted deprivation that has blighted lives for too long in East Birmingham and create places people and businesses are proud to call home.

“The scale of this Corporation shows that Birmingham is back and ready to lead the UK’s return to growth.”

Housing Secretary, Steve Reed said: “The government is building the homes we need and it’s exactly this sort of investment that will bring about real change for people across East Birmingham. 

“A new regeneration body will give the West Midlands Mayor the powers to unlock thousands of homes, jobs and vital infrastructure - boosting homeownership, putting more money in people’s pockets and creating opportunities for the next generation.” 

The Mayor and senior figures at Birmingham City Council have spent months structuring the Corporation so it can unlock large-scale regeneration, accelerate development, and attract investment in a way that brings real and lasting change for local communities.

Joanne Roney CBE, managing director of Birmingham City Council, said: “The MDC will enable and accelerate developments in the heart of the city and in East Birmingham that will transform lives, creating tens of thousands of jobs, thousands of homes and adding billions to the local economy.

"Having the largest MDC in the country underlines the scale and ambition of our plans to drive growth in the UK’s second-largest city economy. It positions our city as one of the most attractive and competitive city centres in the UK - there has never been a better time to invest in Birmingham.

“We will also make sure we deliver the greatest impact for our residents by linking the economic outputs of the MDC directly with deprived communities.”

East Birmingham continues to experience some of the worst deprivation in the UK but the large-scale investment in and around the heart of the city is expected to provide unprecedented opportunities for jobs, homes and skills training for local communities.

Collectively, the projects included in the BEMDC area are set to transform surrounding neighbourhoods, improve transport connections, and help raise living standards for tens of thousands of local people.

Investors and developers will also benefit. By bringing planning, land assembly, funding, and delivery into a single body, supported by new transport and energy infrastructure, the Corporation will be able to ‘fast-track’ development and make it easier for investors who will only need to engage with one organisation instead of many.