just read this..
Big story: £320m bill for taxpayers — a Commonwealth Games legacy
Top line: As the Olympic Games wraps up in Paris, the true cost of Birmingham’s Commonwealth Games is only just becoming known. The city council has agreed to sell most of Perry Barr Athletes Village to a private investor — for less money than the authority has spent on the project. As a result, the sale will cost the taxpayer at least £320m.
Context: Perry Barr Athletes Village was meant to accommodate competitors during the Commonwealth Games. Unfortunately, construction was delayed due to the pandemic and the athletes were put up in student digs instead. Since building works completed in April 2023, almost a year after the games, the homes have sat empty.
The big plan: The development was supposed to be a positive legacy of the games and a hallmark project in the great Perry Barr regeneration, alongside the creation of Alexander Stadium and £30.9m of transport improvements. The idea was to provide lots of new homes for local people.
Of the 968 properties, 312 were set to be available at affordable prices, with an additional 99 available at a government-funded 30% discount for first-time buyers.
A nasty surprise: The project faced a blow last year when it emerged that surveyors were valuing the flats at 30% less than the council, throwing those with mortgage agreements into jeopardy. Then, earlier this year, it was revealed that the council was instead negotiating with private investors looking to bulk-buy the homes. Last Thursday, the council agreed to sell 755 of the properties to a private bidder. The remaining 213 will be kept as council homes.
.
How much exactly? The same report, to the council’s property committee, estimates that the money made from the sale won’t be enough to pay back borrowing of £142-152m. The cost of repaying this debt over a 40-year period is expected to be £8-9m per year, including interest. That’s a cost of at least £320m to the taxpayer with cuts made elsewhere to compensate — not quite the glorious Commonwealth legacy the council intended. Speaking to the BBC, Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Meirion Jenkins wasn’t mincing words:
“It’s certainly a legacy. It’s a disastrous financial legacy. All we have now is a disastrous state-sponsored construction project that is going to cost the population of Birmingham very dearly, bearing in mind we’re talking about £2,000 per household in Birmingham as being the cost of this construction.”
However, Labour Councillor Sharon Thompson, deputy leader for the council and cabinet member for Economy and Skills has continued to defend the project. In a statement on the council’s website, she said:
“As someone who visits Perry Barr regularly, I know the area has been transformed in recent years and is now a destination of choice for visitors or for those wishing to relocate.
“The investment in Perry Barr has brought massive benefits locally with upgraded public transport links, the stunning redevelopment of the Alexander Stadium and this deal will now deliver better housing choices for local people."
Is the project an important jigsaw piece in the redevelopment of Perry Barr? Or is it just the latest in a long line of financial howlers for the council?
