WEST MIDLANDS COMBINED AUTHORITY
Welcome to the West Midlands: a place to create, innovate and build the future.
The region’s thriving entrepreneurial hub with a pioneering spirit has huge investment potential and global ambition. In the decade to 2020, the West Midlands was the fastest-growing UK region outside of London, breaking through the £100 billion economic output mark: a figure now standing at £117bn.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), led by the city region’s Mayor Andy Street, is overseeing the region’s economic growth, implementing strategic upgrades of critical infrastructure, creating highly skilled jobs and commissioning new housing projects, exciting commercial developments and major investment in future technologies.
Working closely with partners in the main cities of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton – as well as the wider network of towns and urban centres – WMCA is uniquely placed to bring together and support investors, developers, occupiers, landowners and other partners passionate about placemaking, delivery and innovation. The WMCA has an impressive track record of delivering new policy ideas, such as the Public Land Charter, and successful investment programmes and projects through partnership, capability and leadership.
The WMCA has helped attract billions in investment from the private sector and Government. Notable deals include a £350m Housing Deal with the UK Government and a commitment from pensions and property giant Legal & General (L&G) to invest £4bn in regional regeneration and housing projects. Partnerships have also been struck with key developers like St Modwen and Lovell to deliver thousands of new homes on former industrial land.
These have been built as a direct result of a ‘brownfield first’ approach by the WMCA which continued to invest tens of millions of pounds throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to unlock derelict industrial sites for new homes and commercial premises. Since signing a landmark housing deal with Government in 2018, WMCA investments alone have delivered more than 8,000 new homes, 12,000 new jobs and 3.8 million sq. ft of commercial floorspace. The Trailblazer Devolution Deal for the West Midlands builds upon these successes with more funding, freedoms and flexibilities for the region to deliver more jobs, homes and transformational regeneration. WMCA wants to hear from other investors and developers who share their vision for the West Midlands and want to work with them in driving forward exciting new projects.