Property lunch: Regenerating the Midlands, 1,000 homes at a time
With 3,500 plots in the works, Wavensmere Homes has been enjoying a stellar year. Managing director James Dickens however, is looking to ramp things up even further, with plans to build 1,000 homes a year and double its turnover to £250m.
Join us at Bank on October 10, to hear from James, one of the region’s most active housebuilders, on Wavensmere’s five developments under construction worth £350m, and its proposals to boost delivery.
Founded in 2015, Wavensmere delivered 522 homes in 2023 and is expected to reach £115m in turnover in 2024.
Wavensmere Homes says it seeks out derelict sites that its industry peers don’t have the finances, resources, or imagination to touch. Constrained land that many have regarded as unviable for residential development. Constructing attainable, rather than unaffordable homes is the firm’s raison d’être.
In the West Midlands, it’s spearheading the £150m regeneration of Canalside South in Wolverhampton – a 17-acre waterfront development made up of the Canal & River Trust-owned former Crane Foundry site, and the City of Wolverhampton Council’s former British Steel site and its land off Qualcast Road.
The site will feature more than 500 eco-friendly homes and various commercial amenities, making it one of the largest city-centre residential development opportunities in the Midlands.
225 homes and apartments out of the 438-unit scheme will be delivered in 2024 by Wavensmere, in partnership with Galliard Homes and Apsley House Capital.
The 12-acre site was previously home to Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College and Birmingham Sports Centre but had lain derelict for 20 years.
James grew up in Birmingham and was educated at Bromsgrove School, then obtained his BA in Economics from the University of Leeds.
He commenced his career in construction, property portfolio management, and the development of individual houses for private clients across the Midlands. James is now nationally respected by his peers and the industry press and is regarded as one of the UK’s most prominent leaders of an SME housebuilding firm.
What to expect at the lunch:
🤝 Come along and network with the West Midlands business community.
🍴 Welcome drink & two-course lunch
🗣️ Hear from the managing director of Wavensmere Homes, James Dickens
