The inaugural Birmingham Housing Week is launching this October, delivered through a partnership between Birmingham City Council and Lovell Partnerships.
Held between the 2nd and 6th October, the event will welcome local schools and the wider community to take part in a number of interactive events, as well as hosting inspirational talks from industry experts on the investment and employment opportunities that the Birmingham housing sector offers.
A series of events will be held throughout the week, focusing on everything from understanding how to empower local supply chains and achieve the Net Zero agenda, to working with young and local voices to ensure their insights are at the heart of the city's future plans.
Birmingham Housing Week aims not only to showcase the investment into new and current homes as a key part of the Council's growth strategy, but to ensure that this growth and development creates lasting opportunities that align with the needs of residents both present and future, and that these opportunities are communicated in meaningful and accessible ways.
TV presenter and architect, George Clarke, and the charity he founded, MOBIE, will be delivering a programme of events and activities for schools and young people in the city; some linked to UK Construction Week which is being hosted at the NEC.
A free community event will be held at the NEC on October 4th. This will be a facilitated workshop held to explore how the pubic and private sector can work closely with local people to ensure they are most effectively involved in the city's regeneration.
Birmingham Housing Week will also be a chance for local contractors and businesses to discuss the opportunities – and challenges – that this investment will bring and to agree how all sectors can work together to make it happen.
The findings from each event will be used to form a report which will be used by the Council to understand how this vision can be made a reality.
Leading public sector, community, housing and academic institutions are currently being invited to join Birmingham Housing Week as strategic partners.
Cllr. Jayne Francis, Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness at Birmingham Council, said: "We're very excited to announce the launch of the first ever Birmingham Housing Week alongside industry leading partners, Lovell Partnerships. While the sector currently presents some challenges, with those challenges comes a wealth of opportunity to determine best practice and understand how we can improve city-wide housing provision for all through public and private sectors working together to ensure we maximise the opportunities for our communities and young people that can come from it. We want as many people from across the city to take part in the events and activities we have planned"
Stuart Penn, Regional Managing Director at Lovell Partnerships, said: "Birmingham Housing Week presents a fantastic opportunity to spotlight the major investment in Birmingham into more and better homes, for ensuring communities are at the heart of the plans and that young people can really benefit from the opportunities we can create. With a great set of speakers and events already lined up, we are looking forward to the conversations and debates and to showcasing the efforts being made by all sectors to work together to improve housing in the area for now, and future generations. We're looking forward to welcoming industry leaders and the local community alike to contribute to the shared vision to build a better Birmingham."
George Clarke, founder of MOBIE, added: "Empowering young minds and attracting the brightest young talent into the housing sector is what MOBIE is about. Birmingham Housing Week is an amazing opportunity to hear and embrace the invaluable insights and innovation of our young generation into the homes and places this great city needs for the future".
For all updates, please visit https://www.birminghamhousingweek.co.uk/ or follow Birmingham Housing Week on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.