Homebuyers' fears over Athletes' Village sell-off

The flats in Perry Barr were finished in April 2023 but remain empty

Flats originally built as the 2022 Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village are to be sold off by Birmingham City Council to private investors, throwing into doubt the public's ability to enter the market and achieve owner-occupier status.

The Perry Barr complex - unfinished at the time of the sports tournament - was completed in April 2023. Of the 968 properties, 312 were designated as affordable homes.

But nearly a year on, they remain unsold and unoccupied, despite drawing offers from prospective individual buyers.

The council said it did not know how bids tabled by third parties would affect those who had planned to move in.

Some first-time buyers whose offers were accepted a year ago have been informed by the council it has started negotiations with private investors who may effectively bulk buy the homes.

Among them are Anthony Ruck, 38. He said he agreed to purchase a flat at £179,000 in March 2023.

It was part of a first-time homebuyers scheme and was for people with connections to the city or who were key workers.

But the process stalled when his mortgage lender devalued the property by about £40,000 which led to renegotiations with the council and another mortgage application.

Mr Ruck said: “I thought quite often 'do I just back out of this and find somewhere else to live'? But it’s just impossible at the moment to find any properties that are affordable."

Anthony Ruck had agreed to buy a flat but his lender devalued it by £40,000

Morriam Jan, a Liberal Democrat councillor who represents the Perry Barr ward, said the community had to put up with "all the disruption and chaos for none of the benefit".

She added: “Perry Barr has been a battle since they announced this in 2017 and I’m shocked I’ve still got hair left.

"[The council] built up people’s hopes that this is going to be a big, amazing site where first-time buyers were going to have the opportunity to get on the property ladder and they failed the community, they failed the residents and the city itself."

Lib Dem councillor Morriam Jan said the council had "failed the community"

Mr Ruck has to move out of his current rental property in about two weeks.

To date he has spent £2,000 on a holding deposit, solicitors fees and mortgage application for the new flat.

He said: “The thing that annoys me most about it all is I remember going back and viewing the properties and seeing lots of other people there that day that wanted to buy a flat and there were lots of families there, there were lots of people who were eligible for first homes, were key workers, and now suddenly that’s all been taken away from them."

The BBC understands a number of housing associations have put in bids to buy parts of the development.

It means a number of the flats and family homes could be used for social housing and temporary accommodation.

The council said it was "working hard to find an outcome"

Correspondence from the council to Mr Ruck said the authority had been marketing homes to third party buyers and while it had originally "anticipated being able to accommodate individual sales to owner-occupiers within a third-party purchase", negotiations had since revealed "variations in each bidder’s requirements".

"Some are comfortable with proceeding with buying the building to include individually-sold apartments, whereas others seek to purchase the entire block without any individual apartments sold," the letter continued.

A council spokesman told the BBC the authority looked forward to welcoming the first families into their new homes.

“The council is also working with its commercial property advisors to market some of the blocks for sale to create a balanced mix of housing types to help meet a range of local needs, and there has been significant interest despite fluctuation in the housing market," he said.

He added: "Negotiations with potential third party buyers are under way and we await for recommendations to be made in the coming weeks of the eventual outcome.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know yet how the outcome of the bids from third parties might impact the purchase of apartments by potential individual buyers.

"We understand the uncertainty that many people may be experiencing and would like to reassure buyers that we are working hard to find an outcome that works for all involved.”