5 reasons why investors are looking to the West Midlands’ thriving towns

Outside of London & the South East, the West Midlands has been the top destination for UK foreign direct investment for five consecutive years. We’re also home to the UK’s fastest growing tech cluster.”

The West Midlands’ economy is worth £108 billion, roughly equivalent to Hungary; its 4.3 million population is larger than Croatia. We’re a three-city region, stretching from Wolverhampton to Coventry via Birmingham. The densely-packed towns and boroughs that connect these cities form a continuous urban geography that ensures the region’s economy, housing delivery and industrial base operate at scale. As a result, as global capital floods into our cities, that demand is trickling outwards, as more and more investors are seeing the vitality and viability in the region’s towns and boroughs.

“The West Midlands has been one of the biggest recipients of the UK government’s Levelling-up funding.”

Access to funding has been key to opening up new opportunities in our thriving towns. The West Midlands has secured around £600m of Levelling-Up funding from the UK Government. This has put money in the hands of ambitious local authorities with track records of delivery, creating transformative opportunities across the region.

Friar Park Urban Village in Sandwell, the region’s largest brownfield development site, is a direct beneficiary of funding from the West Midlands Combined Authority, which has secured over £1bn in devolved housing and land funds since 2018. Serious investors are now making significant commitments outside of the city.

The Friar Park site (below) covers 67 acres and will provide a mix of high-quality homes and open spaces, with new pedestrian, cycle and transport links to the surrounding areas.

“The West Midlands is home to one of the youngest, most diverse talent pools in Europe.”

32% of its residents are under 25, while Birmingham is the youngest major city in Europe. This is a demographic trend driving significant housing demand in the region, bolstered by the 185,000 students across nine internationally recognised universities and the steady stream of graduates and London-relocators arriving in the West Midlands. 

Towns like West Bromwich – now just 15 minutes from Birmingham by tram – are perfectly placed to fulfil much-need housing supply. The result is a wide range of significant residential-led opportunities such as Grove Lane, an 800-home scheme less than five miles from central Birmingham, and Walsall’s town centre masterplan set to deliver over 900 quality homes.

“90% of the UK is accessible from the West Midlands within four hours.”

Connectivity has long been one of the West Midlands’ greatest assets. Yet the commitment to improving its transport connections within the region has arguably been key to increasing investment viability.

In recent years, the West Midlands has seen local travel times drastically reduced through a new tram network and rapid bus services, while new railway stations have opened or are set to open across the region. This has made new schemes like Willenhall Garden City, a £210m, 500-home masterplan in Walsall, possible, enabled by a new rail station with direct links to Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

Plans have also been announced for a new passenger rail service, called the Wrexham, Shropshire and Midlands Railway (WSMR), providing residents in Walsall a direct link with the capital. Elsewhere, the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension will enhance public transport accessibility across the Black Country as a whole, and for the first time, directly connect Dudley town centre with Birmingham in around 40 minutes.

With a further £2.7bn investment in regional infrastructure on the horizon – alongside the continuation of HS2 from London to Birmingham – the UK’s best-connected region looks set to become even better connected.

“Developments are being shaped by a combination of organic growth, investment and public intervention.”

Important though they are, demand and viability are often not enough to drive projects forward alone. Throughout the West Midlands, a steely determination and appetite for risk is turning ambition into reality. Across Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Warwickshire, there are collaborative local authorities ready to work with investors who share their vision for sustainable and inclusive regeneration.

In Dudley, a successful Towns Fund bid is bringing forward a new Worcester University healthcare campus, addressing skills needs across the region and revitalising a site which will benefit from major transport infrastructure investment too. In both Sandwell and Solihull, plans for town centre heat networks are well underway, future-proofing urban regeneration schemes.

The West Midlands’ local authorities are driving innovative new approaches to urban living and delivering transformative opportunities to change the lives of people across its cities, towns and boroughs.