West Midlands lands £409m government boost for 3,200 social homes
The Prime Minister has backed Mayor of the West Midlands Richard Parker with £409m to help build 3,200 new social homes across the region, as part of a partnership between the Mayor, the Government and Homes England.
The funding is the first to be released from the region’s £1.7bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme, which runs until March 2035 and aims to deliver at least 10,000 affordable new homes across the region over the decade.
It will also contribute towards the region’s £3.8bn Futures Fund, which brings together backing from the WMCA, the West Midlands Pension Fund, Homes England, the National Wealth Fund and other national investment bodies to speed up regeneration and housebuilding.
Since taking office in May 2024, Parker has overseen what the WMCA describes as the region’s biggest social housing programme in decades, setting a target of 2,000 social rent homes a year by 2028. Latest figures show 7,237 new homes were contracted in the last year, more than ten times the annual average of 623 achieved before he took office, including 2,452 affordable homes and 1,086 for social rent.
The West Midlands currently has 7,450 households, including 14,976 children, living in temporary accommodation, with a further 65,335 households on social housing waiting lists.
Parker said: “For decades there’s been a chronic underinvestment in council homes and genuinely affordable housing, and it’s left us with the housing crisis we face today. I believe people deserve better, which is why my focus has been on fixing the mistakes of the past and rebuilding our housing stock.
“Nearly 15,000 children in our region are living in temporary accommodation. I want that number coming down and I want it coming down quickly. When you listen to the experiences of people in temporary accommodation or stuck on housing waiting lists, you realise just how much their lives are blighted by not having a secure and decent home. We will change that by giving people the housing stability and security they need to get on in life.”
David Hopper, who lives in a Midland Heart social rent apartment in Coventry after two and a half years of homelessness, said: “It’s changed my life. I was homeless while trying to deal with my own health problems, losing my mum, and my job. I now have one less thing to worry about and this is going to give me the strength to go forward.”
Sunita Kaur Singh, a mother of three who spent much of the last 20 years in temporary accommodation after leaving an abusive relationship, said moving into her Midland Heart social rent house felt like “the answer to all my prayers.”
Working with Homes England, the Mayor will also be able to shape how the region’s housing programme is delivered, setting out plans for the types of homes built and which sites are prioritised for construction.
