Mayor opens Futures Fund to developers, with £400m for affordable homes

A multi-billion-pound fund set up to kick-start the building of new homes and commercial space across the region has been opened up to private developers.

The regional mayor, Richard Parker, has launched a "call for projects", inviting developers and investors to put forward schemes that the Futures Fund could help pay for. He is looking for commercial, hotel, mixed-use and large-scale housing schemes.

About £545 million from the fund is currently earmarked for projects of this kind, alongside support from members of the region's wider investment partnership.

"Spades in the ground"

"We've wasted no time in using the Futures Fund to start driving growth across our region, but now I'm opening it up with a call for projects," Mr Parker said.

"I want developers to work with us and help build the schemes that will drive prosperity for local people and businesses in the years ahead. I know there are many investors and developers with deep roots in this region who want to deliver the things that matter most to people: affordable homes, good jobs, better transport and a 'can-do' environment for business."

"This fund offers a unique opportunity to achieve that by providing the support the private sector needs to get spades in the ground."

Homes and the Sports Quarter

The fund was first announced in May with £3.8 billion, and more than £400 million of that has been allocated to new affordable and social housing. It has since grown to take in money for transport, and a total of £1.7 billion has now been committed to projects including new tram and rail links to open up the Birmingham Sports Quarter, the planned home of a new stadium for Birmingham City.

It is expected to grow further as more powers and money are handed from Whitehall to the region under devolution.

Four growth corridors

Mr Parker also announced the next set of projects to be backed by the fund. They are focused on four "growth corridors": the Black Country, Wolverhampton to Walsall, Birmingham and north Solihull, and Coventry.

They include the new Digbeth Loc television studios in Birmingham, work at junction 10 of the M6 in Walsall, and new homes across the Black Country.

"I'm also announcing several new schemes for this unprecedented financial firepower that will drive further growth and help improve the quality of life," the mayor said.

Why it matters

Birmingham has one of the longest housing waiting lists in the country, with thousands of households in temporary accommodation, and the council has struggled to build homes at the rate needed during its financial crisis. Developers have also warned that rising building costs and higher interest rates have made many schemes, particularly on difficult brownfield sites, hard to make work without public support.

Funds like this are designed to fill that gap, by lending money or investing alongside developers so that schemes which would otherwise stall can go ahead. Developers interested in applying are being asked to submit expressions of interest to the combined authority.