Midlands at heart of housebuilding boom
LOCALLY-based contractors are leading a housebuilding charge, suggesting brighter economic prospects ahead.
Willmott Dixon, which has its local housebuilding base in Coleshill, has seen its pipeline of local work expand significantly recently with new schemes in Evesham, Worcester and Rugby that will sustain more than 100 jobs.
And Tamworth-headquartered Lovell has secured work on six new-build housing schemes across Birmingham with Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust. The schemes are worth £18.7m and will see 187 homes being built.
Willmott Dixon has been appointed by Rooftop Housing Group, Worcester Community Housing and Housing 21 to deliver a total of 160 new homes in the region for a variety of tenure needs.
At Evesham it will build a £6m, 48 apartment extension for Rooftop Housing Group to the Yates Court extra care complex in the High Street.
In Worcester, Worcester Community Housing has awarded the company a £7m contract on Gresham Road to create a mixed-use development providing 27 houses and six commercial units that incorporate a further 24 apartments, together with the re-provision of the local church.
And in Rugby, Willmott Dixon is working with Housing 21 on a facility that will provide 61 apartments for people requiring specialist extra care accommodation.
The housing work comes a few weeks after Willmott Dixon announced its housing company had created 42 new jobs in the past six months following a surge in housing orders that included a £6.6 million contract for The Wrekin Housing Trust for extra care apartments in Wombourne, plus work to create 37 new homes of all tenure mixes for Walsall Housing Group on Fisher Road.
Willmott Dixon made a strategic decision this year to expand its housing capability in the Midlands to meet growing demand for new homes, appointing Simon Leadbeater as its managing director for housing building in the region.
He said: “Housing is a good indicator of economic growth and these latest schemes bode well for prospects in the West Midlands. Our growing workload in housing will also see us create further job opportunities as more projects start on site over the coming months.”
The homes Lovell is building with Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust will be a mix of affordable homes to rent and to buy, as well as others for sale on the open market.
Lovell has been working with BMHT for a number of years and has completed many schemes.
David Gough, regional director, said: “With a proportion of the homes at all six new developments being available for open sale, Lovell will be able to continue to build its portfolio in the city too, following on from successful recent schemes in Bournville, Ward End, Ladywood and Sparkbrook.”
Work on all six schemes will begin within the next quarter and all will be complete by the end of 2014.
