Inside £500m 'ghost village' deserted after Covid axed Commonwealth Games plans
It was billed as the key driver behind the regeneration of a suburb triggered by the Commonwealth Games.
The £500million athletes' village was heralded as eventually creating close to 1,000 new apartments in Birmingham. However in 2020, two years before the event, the decision was made to scrap the athletes' village all together due to the impact of the pandemic.
Fast-forward to October 2023 and the first few apartments - priced between £173,400 and £229,500 - have been put on the market by estate agents Connells. According to security staff on site today (October 26), those for sale are only in one apartment block with the other three nowhere near completion.
No one is living in the new apartments in the north of the city as of yet (No credit)The site itself is more reminiscent of a ghost town. It's been 1,632 days - or four years, five months - since work officially started to transform the former Birmingham City University building into new homes. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform an area of Birmingham that has long needed investment," said former Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward. Yet here we are - some 15 months after the Games with the city embroiled in a £1 billion financial crisis.
The "village" remains boarded up with metal fences erected all around the site to deter trespassers. Loose yellow electric cables sway with the wind while there's plenty of litter and graffiti.
London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard
And despite being somewhat brand new, the site is in need of a spruce up with it being left unoccupied for so many months. It's currently manned by a couple of security guards. One speaks to Birmingham Live, and says: "Three of the blocks aren't even finished yet. I think they're allowing viewings for the first one here but nothing's really happening."
One of the new roads within the development has been named Inspire Avenue which is rather ironic. It's eerily quiet. There's no tradesmen grafting to get things done and no cars or vans on site. It's as if the whole thing has been forgotten about.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony was broadcast on a big screen in the heart of the city (Graham Young / BirminghamLive)"I don't know what's happening... well I do... nothing," says one passer-by, who wanted to remain anonymous. "I'm local and these boards you see have been there for so long now. We want it finished. It's just one big white elephant."
Given the majority of the site is still a building site, Birmingham Live asked Birmingham City Council if new tenants are due to move in. We also asked if the lack of progress was linked with the city's bleak financial standing.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: "The first tranche of homes within the initial phase of the award-winning Perry Barr Residential Scheme is open to purchasers and anyone interested in them can make enquiries with Connells estate agents for more information." Award-winning? You've got to laugh.
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