A new £4 billion deal has been signed with investment giant Legal & General to kick start regeneration and property projects across the West Midlands.
The seven-year plan has been agreed with the West Midlands Combined Authority and its scope encompases support for housing of all tenures, including social and modular, commercial property and urban regeneration.
It will commence with a new scheme on brownfield land in Oldbury called ‘The Junction' which has lain empty for 20 years but is now set to become 234 new homes, with a 50 per cent provision for affordable housing.
Alongside investment into new commercial schemes, the new agreement will include contributions to green projects and local communities and support the region's target of delivering 215,000 new homes by 2031.
Legal & General, which manages £1.4 trillion, has financed more than £30 billion of regeneration in UK towns and cities outside London and said it wanted to repeat the scale of this investment with this latest deal in the West Midlands.
It is the first time the company has signed with a combined authority and builds on similar partnership agreements between West Midlands Combined Authority and Tamworth housebuilder Lovell and St Modwen to support its regeneration work in Longbridge.
The 2022 West Midlands Investment Prospectus was launched in March and provides a range of possible development opportunities spread across the region which investors can back.
It will also cement Legal & General's already strong foothold in the region where it has invested £2 billion, including in the new Birmingham Health Innovation Campus in Selly Oak via its joint venture with commercial property group Bruntwood.
The JV is also nearing completion on the new Enterprise Wharf tech building on Innovation Birmingham Campus while Legal & General owns the House of Fraser store in Corporation Street and has invested in 3 Arena Central in Broad Street, now home to thousands of government staff including a hub for HM Revenue and Customs.
Chief executive Sir Nigel Wilson said: "We have been investing across the UK in partnership with cities and universities for a decade. It's part of our 'inclusive capitalism' approach and has delivered terrific economic and social results.
"The West Midlands' economic plan, resources and skills make it an attractive destination for trade and investment from across the world.
"Our role in this is to put UK funds including pension savings to work here so UK savers benefit from UK prosperity."
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street added: "This major investment will help regenerate long-neglected areas across the West Midlands, provide affordable homes in the communities where the need is most felt and supercharge economic growth in the years ahead.
"The scale of the ambition they are showing is evident in both the huge sums involved and the breadth of projects envisioned.
"It is a tremendous vote of confidence in the future of our region from one of the world's biggest investors and I am delighted they came to the table and agreed such a monumental commitment with us.
"I cannot wait to see this investment rolled out, projects under way and the lives of our residents changed for the better."
