MIPIM 2016: The UK’s biggest ever ‘garden city’ will be built near Wolverhampton, in the heart of the Black Country, the region has announced today.
More than 45,000 new homes will be built in the Black Country garden city in what will be one of Britain’s biggest ever brownfield site regenerations, covering more than 3,700 acres across 550 sites.
The development is being led by the Black Country LEP and the Homes and Communities Agency, with the support of the department for Communities and Local Government who are seeking £6bn in investment while at MIPIM this week.
The design of the garden city is being led by urban development charity MADE. It is not part of chancellor George Osborne’s ‘garden suburbs’ plans, which are to be unveiled within the Budget on Wednesday.
The Black Country garden city initiative will cater for unprecedented housing demand in the region and forms a key part of the Midlands’ wider housing plan to build 85,000 new homes in the next 15 years
The Black Country is the fastest-growing area within the Midlands – its economy expanded 4.5% in 2013, and it attracted record levels of foreign business investment last year, in what it says is Britain’s most successful enterprise zone.
The garden city will boost the local economy by £18bn, boosting the area’s internationally established automotive, aerospace and construction sectors – which account for 60% of UK automotive R&D; 20% of the UK’s total aerospace output; and contribute more than £1bn to the UK economy.
Communities secretary Greg Clark said: “The Black Country Garden City symbolises the region’s ambition. It will deliver modern new housing that will be a magnet for business investment, notably in advanced manufacturing and construction, which will boost the local economy and supply the houses local families want.”
Work on site will start this year and the phased development will complete by 2026.
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• See also: Osborne to unveil garden suburbs plan
