Plans for 137 affordable homes on old Ladywood police station go before planners

Plans to build 137 affordable homes on the site of the former Ladywood police station go before Birmingham City Council's planning committee today, Thursday 8 October, with officers recommending approval.

MIA Property submitted plans for the 0.9-acre site on Ladywood Middleway in August last year, about six months after buying a neighbouring plot. The former police station and the social club next door would be demolished to make way for two housing blocks.

The homes

• 65 one-bedroom flats;
• 72 two-bedroom flats;
• all of them affordable, with the development to be run by the housing association Midland Heart.

Design objections

The council's urban design team and Birmingham Civic Society both objected, and planning officers negotiated changes to the design during the consultation. The city design officer maintained an objection over the lack of a principal entrance onto Ladywood Middleway, the communal amenity space and the ventilation strategy.

But in their report, planning officers concluded that the scheme was acceptable overall.

"On balance, the scheme would deliver a well-designed residential development that makes effective use of a sustainable brownfield site and, whilst certain design shortcomings have been identified, officers do not consider these to give rise to significant planning harm or to warrant refusal of planning permission," they said.

"The proposal would make significantly more efficient use of the site than the retention and conversion of the existing buildings and would facilitate the delivery of a substantial number of new homes, including affordable housing."

Why it matters

More than 33,000 households are on Birmingham's housing waiting list, and many families are living in temporary accommodation while they wait for a permanent home. Fully affordable schemes, run by housing associations, are one of the main ways new homes for people on lower incomes are built in the city.

Ladywood, just west of the city centre, has long been one of Birmingham's most deprived wards, and has seen major regeneration over the past two decades, with more planned. Brownfield sites like the old police station are a priority for new homes, as they reduce pressure to build on green spaces.

How planning committees work

Councillors on the planning committee are not bound by officers' recommendations. They can approve an application, refuse it, defer it for more information, or approve it with extra conditions. Members of the public can watch committee meetings, and the plans and documents are available on the council's planning portal under reference 2026/01554/PA.

Earlier this month

MIA Property and Midland Heart signed a development agreement for the site earlier this month, subject to planning permission. If councillors approve the scheme, demolition of the police station and social club could follow, with the two blocks of flats built on the cleared land.