Work starts on major homes scheme

CONSTRUCTION work has started on a long-awaited residential development.

Phase one of the Port Loop site will see 117 houses and 90 apartments built on industrial land next to the Birmingham Canal Old Line and close to Edgbaston Reservoir.

The project is being led by a joint venture of regeneration company Urban Splash and property management firm Places for People, working with landowners Birmingham City Council and charity Canal & River Trust.

Work on remediation and rebuilding of the canal walls started earlier this year.

The first housing will comprise 77 family homes and 40 of these properties will be created offsite by House, Urban Splash’s modular division, meaning customers can design the internal layout and composition of their own homes.

These will launch for sale in the autumn with a further 37 on sale next year and the remaining 130 at a later date.

The overall Port Loop development is likely to contain around 1,150 new homes alongside commercial property and community facilities and is expected to take upwards of ten years to complete.

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “This is, without doubt, one of the most exciting residential developments in the city for a very long time.

“The variety of housing types, layouts and sizes will lead to the creation of a genuinely mixed, multi-generational community attracted to a unique waterside location with sustainable access to the very core of the city.”