Place
Major investments in transport, housing and business locations must be used to transform not only growth and productivity but also make places where people want to live, work and invest. We are building more homes with an ambition of 215,000 new homes by 2031. We are working on the identification of opportunity areas to drive the supply of high-quality new homes and then create and capture the value created from these to invest in transport, health, education and other facilities within existing communities in these areas to enable growth for all and ensure that communities can participate in growth and benefit from the growth.
-
More houses are being built resulting in housing stock continuing to rise to 1,704,600 homes – a net increase of 11,480 homes from the previous year.
-
More affordable homes are being built – 2,850 affordable homes in total (520 more than the previous year). However, there is a need to ensure we are delivering all types of housing to accommodate and attract employees for our growing economy.
-
Completions by tenure mix is changing – housing associations and local authorities account for 20% of all completions (down 3% since previous year) whilst private enterprises are increasing their share of completions with 80% (an increase of 3% compared with the previous year). There is evidence of growing demand in the housing market with 56,007 residential sales were recorded in 2016/17 – an increase of 1,202 from the previous year; and likewise, in the private rental market– in 2017- 2018 there were 27,460 residential properties privately rented; an increase of 2,760 rentals since the previous year.
-
Alongside economic growth, will be an impact on infrastructure and as anticipated congestion is getting worse; only 41% of WM residents were able to access 3 or more strategic centres including Birmingham City Centre, accessible by public transport within 45 mins travel time in the am peak – some 34 percentage points lower than the WMCA ambition of 75%.
-
Visitor economy has continued to perform well with hotel occupancy rates in the WMCA area matching or exceeding 2016 figures for most of the year. However, since autumn 2017 it is likely that domestic rather than overseas tourists have been the principal driver of growth.
-
Issues with Britain’s high street have been widely reported in recent times; just this year
-
there has been store closure announcements by House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer and Mothercare. Much of these are put down to tough trading conditions, rising costs and the formidable rise of online shopping. In 2017, the number of high street retail outlets fell by 1,772 in the UK, 144 of which were in the West Midlands region. Despite the problems experienced by the high street, retail plays a vital role in West Midlands society – it’s a large employer and a key enabling sector. In order to reverse the fortunes of retail, stakeholders need to be innovative in their response to the situation, particularly given changing trends and the digital age.
-
Air quality within the WMCA is improving as there are currently 25 days poor air quality per year (rated 4 or higher on the Daily Air Quality Index); an improvement of 15 days less than the previous year. CO2 emitted in 2015 was 21,696 ktCO2, a reduction of 924 ktCO2 since the previous year. The WMCA ambition is a 40% reduction in carbon by 2030 requiring a further reduction of 5,756ktCO2. Transport is a major source of poor air quality and improvements likely to be attributable to improved vehicle technology continuing to enter the fleet.
-
The total number of recorded crime (excluding fraud) in the West Midlands was 227,865 in 2017; 79.4 per 1,000 resident population. This is an increase of 27,353 more crimes recorded than the previous year.
More houses are being built resulting in housing stock continuing to rise to 1,704,600 homes – a net increase of 11,480 homes from the previous year
Key indicators
- 2003 - 5.42
- 2004 - 6.10
- 2005 - 6.31
- 2006 - 6.39
- 2007 - 6.58
- 2008 - 6.37
- 2009 - 5.80
- 2010 - 6.18
- 2011 - 6.02
- 2012 - 5.91
- 2013 - 5.86
- 2014 - 6.36
- 2015 - 6.46
- 2016 - 6.64
- 2017 - 6.86
- 2013 - 1,662,400
- 2014 - 1,670,310
- 2015 - 1,681,200
- 2016 - 1,693,120
- 2017 - 1,704,600
Source: MHCLG Live Table 125 - Dwelling Stock Estimates by Local Authority District
- 1999/00 - 26.5
- 2000/01 - 22.8
- 2001/02 - 24.8
- 2002/03 - 26.4
- 2003/04 - 27.4
- 2004/05 - 29.3
- 2005/06 - 30.9
- 2006/07 - 32.8
- 2007/08 - 35.5
- 2008/09 - 37.6
- 2009/10 - 40.0
- 2010/11 - 41.8
- 2011/12 - 44.2
- 2012/13 - 46.5
- 2013/14 - 48.5
- 2014/15 - 50.8
- 2015/16 - 53.7
- 2016/17 - 54.7
- 2017/18 - 55.0
A Reduction of 5,765 ktCO2
- 32,008 offenders (2014), 7.9 per 1,000 residents.
-
-1,364 offenders since previous years
Deepening our evidence base
We are focusing on some key development ‘corridors’ around HS2 and the associated connectivity package. This is to ensure that the investment made into hard infrastructure is connected to the assets in the places it touches. The work on building the data picture of these places has started, as have discussions around alignment of existing activities.
We will establish rigorous assessment and evaluation of our investments and interventions to understand the impacts on local places and people, including disadvantaged groups, for example around access to employment and housing.
We will work with partners to understand peoples and business perceptions to make a place where people want to live, work and invest.
We will not only measure the quantity of housing but also the quality.