Housebuilder ready to start work on one of Britain’s biggest regeneration schemes.

Housebuilder Bellway has won a contract from Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council for one of the country’s biggest regeneration schemes. Bellway has not released the value of the contract, but said that over the next 15-20 years the project would deliver up to £1.8bn of private and public investment.

The first phase of the project will involve building 700 homes. Later stages will include improving transport links and other infrastructure work. The development will be in North Solihull, an area designated a site of economic deprivation, despite the fact neighbouring South Solihull is one of the most affluent areas of the Midlands.

Bellway – which is already involved in regeneration projects in Liverpool and east London – is well-versed in the difficulties of building low-cost housing. There is strong opposition to deputy prime minister John Prescott’s plans to demolish and replace older properties throughout the north of England and the Midlands; persuading local people to support the scheme will be one of Bellway’s first tasks.