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Major city council completes 487-home deal with L&G’s affordable housing arm
Birmingham City Council has sold nearly 500 homes to Legal & General Affordable Homes (LGAH) for an undisclosed fee.
The deal between the council and for-profit provider LGAH pertains to homes on the Perry Barr scheme.
The development is a regeneration plan spanning more than 60 hectares of land, and aims to create a new neighbourhood with more than 5,000 new homes and supporting infrastructure.
The scheme, on the former Birmingham City University teaching campus, was approved in March 2020 as the intended site for the athletes’ village during the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
However, following development restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic and the estimated cost of fast-tracking completion, the council and the Commonwealth Games Committee decided to scrap the scheme in August 2020.
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In July last year, Inside Housing reported that the city council was considering acquiring the flats to use as social housing.
Phase one of Perry Barr was completed in spring 2023 after the council built 968 homes – 213 of which have been reserved for council housing use.
Jayne Francis, cabinet member for housing and homelessness at Birmingham City Council, said: “We are pleased to sell these plots to such a reputable operator of residential properties, one with a commitment to addressing the chronic undersupply of affordable housing in the UK.
‘‘Legal & General Affordable Homes have an excellent pedigree for investing, growing and maintaining communities in the long term.
‘‘We could not have asked for a better partner in Legal and General Affordable Homes and are pleased that we will be working with them towards the long-term regeneration of Perry Barr.’’
In July 2021, Birmingham’s cabinet approved a disposal strategy that included plot nine of the scheme to be private sale and build-to-rent.
Law firm Burges Salmon’s advisory team, led by partner Ross Polkinghorne and senior associate Amber Liu, supported Birmingham City Council throughout the deal with LGAH.
Mr Polkinghorne said: “It has been a pleasure working with Birmingham City Council on this important sale, which supports the council’s ambition of providing a sustainable future for Perry Barr, with a wider scheme that accelerates the regeneration of the area and positively tackles housing challenges.
‘‘Buying and selling council-owned land can be highly complex and our experience advising the public sector on large-scale schemes of this nature, combined with our ability to provide all-encompassing legal expertise, meant we were able to guide all parties through a smooth and mutually beneficial completion.”
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