Ladywood: 'I don't want to lose my home of 37 years'

Jim Drain has lived on the Ladywood estate for nearly 40 years and said he did not plan on moving

A resident said he did not want to lose his home of 37 years after learning it is facing demolition in the planned transformation of Ladywood.

Jim Drain's property is among thousands earmarked for compulsory purchase orders by the city council in phase one of the huge redevelopment.

He recently released £80,000 of equity from it, thinking he would not move and said he had not heard from the council.

The authority said it would help with concerns as much as possible.

The £2.2bn regeneration of Ladywood Estate, which roughly stretches from the Utilita Arena to Ladywood Middleway, would involve bulldozing many of the almost 2,000 homes and replacing them with 7,000 new ones.

People had to listen outside on a speaker after failing to get into a packed meeting in July

It is estimated by the council it would to take two decades to complete and would also add a new school, public parks, business premises and community facilities.

Mr Drain's three-bedroomed house in Bellcroft was four years old when he and his partner bought it for £75,000 in 1987.

"I've lived there ever since," he said. "We remortgaged it to buy a property in Spain when I took early retirement from my job as a PR director.

"I used equity release thinking I would not be moving from Birmingham.

"So if there is a compulsory purchase order placed on it what will we get? Will I be able to sell it? Who would pay for it now?"

"All of a sudden, four weeks ago, a neighbour told us about this regeneration project and that it is going to be pulled down from where we are up to Middleway View," he said.

"Apparently the council said they sent us something in 2019. But it's news to us."

Bellcroft is in phase one of the regeneration plans

At a public meeting in July, organised by the council, angry residents were not all able to get inside the hall.

Many said they had learned from press articles land and homes would be demolished under compulsory purchase orders.

The estate is currently home to about 5,000 people, most of whom are council or social housing tenants.

The first buildings are unlikely to go up until 2028 at the earliest.

The development has been described by the council as "the city's most significant housing regeneration and redevelopment opportunity and key to the sustainable growth and development of the city".

Ladywood's Labour MP Shabana Mahmood said she would be writing to all residents of the estate.

She would ask the council for a full consultation process and a guarantee that existing residents who want to stay in Ladywood should be allowed to, she added.

"I told the council leader the plans should not be a backdoor for mass gentrification of our neighbourhood, where people have put down roots and made their homes," she said.

The number of properties will rise threefold, but only 16.8% of the new properties will meet the definition of affordable, according to a council report.

The council said it wanted to ensure the residents of Ladywood were heard and it would help with their concerns as much as it could.

"We're going to be much more systematic about who we consult with to make sure everyone in Ladywood can have their input into the process," the council cabinet member for housing, Jayne Francis, said.

An initial consultation is due to start in September, she added.