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Combined authority submits Investment Zones package that could deliver more than 18,000 new homes
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has submitted plans to build up to 18,000 homes as part of the government’s new Investment Zones initiative.
The combined authority submitted the proposals which it says will create 65,000 new jobs, add £4.7bn to the local economy each year and allow 18,6161 homes to be built.
The plans include five separate Investment Zone sites such as Coventry Airport, and brownfield land in Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.
Each site would create new housing alongside commercial and industrial spaces.
The plans were announced by the government earlier this month, which said the initiative aims to “turbocharge” development through low taxes and looser planning rules.
Under the scheme, areas can apply to host a ‘zone’ – a specific area designed to boost housebuilding and “transform towns and cities across the country”.
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Applications for Investment Zones opened earlier this month, and ministers have already been in discussions with 38 other areas such as Tees Valley and Liverpool City Region.
Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands, said the Investment Zones can accelerate the delivery of “tangible” outcomes for local residents.
He said: “Investment Zones have the potential to supercharge economic growth in our region and so I’m really pleased that, in close collaboration with our local authority partners, we’ve been able to submit such a strong array of options to the government.
“Having been involved in establishing one of the UK’s most successful enterprise zones in and around Centenary Square in Birmingham, I have seen first-hand the power these special economic areas can have with the ability to bring about genuinely transformational change and investment.”
According to the government, Investment Zones allow planning applications to be “minimised”, and where applications remain necessary, they will be “radically streamlined”.
However, in their submission, the West Midlands metropolitan councils said that the introduction of Investment Zones must not be to the detriment of the financial resources that would have otherwise been available to them and the WMCA.
They said: “The implementation of the zones would need to be subject to further work in respect to due diligence, assessments of financial risk and approval through the appropriate governance structures.”
Ian Courts, leader of Solihull Council, said: “Across the region, and specifically here in Solihull, we have a range of exciting locations perfectly primed and positioned to help drive the vital economic growth, jobs and housing we all want to see.”
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