What claims to be the UK’s first ever Local House Building Club has been launched in Birmingham, uniting the city council, architects, academics, bankers, builders merchants and builders in the common desire to increase the number of homes of all tenures being built across the city by local builders.

The current recovery in the housing market is focused on the South East with the West Midlands lagging behind. Across the UK the lack of local builder participation is a real concern – the number of new homes the country needs to end the housing shortage cannot be built by the national builders alone.

Speaking to local builders at the launch of the new club at the premises of architect Aedas, Birmingham City Council's Cabinet Member for Housing, Cllr Tahir Ali, said: “We are now at a point where our house building programme will be more diverse than previously. Yes, there will be some big sites where the usual house builders will offer us up the best economies of scale and it’s right that development opportunities at that level sit with those companies who are best placed to take the risk and reward associated with the scale of those opportunities.

"But in contrast to those, we also have an emerging portfolio of much smaller sites, some being as small as building one or two houses. We already know that the big players in house building aren’t interested in this small scale of development and that’s where you come in. We want to make it possible for SMEs to be able to secure this type of work in the future.

"We also want to de-mystify a lot of the bureaucracy that tends to surround the Council. Yes, we know we are a big organisation, but today is the start of having a continuing dialogue with you about how we work, and how we can work better with you.”

The reluctance of the big five banks to lend to Local Builders continues to hamper many developments, so the support of the fastest growing bank, Aldermore, is vital to the success of this initiative.

Help and advice is also being provided, free, by Coventry University through a joint program with the European Union. And Acivico is offering local builders advice on complying with the latest standards and regulations.

Builders merchant EH Smith and the Federation of Master Builders played key roles in there being a full house for the launch of a Club that plans to meet four times a year to discuss opportunities and get Birmingham building.

Club organiser Mike Leonard, CEO of the Modern Masonry Alliance, says: “This is the beginning of something big. Local builders use local materials, create local jobs and the homes people need within local communities."

The aim now is to set up a network of Local House Building Clubs across the West Midlands, with a Local Builder Summit being planned at Coventry University in November. 

Wants to know more? Contact Mike Leonard on 07778 842831