The partnership was approved at a Wolverhampton City Council Cabinet meeting this week following a Memorandum of Understanding to review potential development sites in the city between ECF and the Council, agreed in March 2023. The transformation of Wolverhampton's west side into a new City Centre West Quarter is set to deliver around 1,000 new homes, along with leisure, retail, and high-quality public spaces.

Subject to heads of terms being agreed, the council and ECF will work to develop a strategic brief for the first phase of the scheme. This initial proposal will inform an outline planning application, together with a detailed phase one planning application.

Maggie Grogan, Managing Director – Midlands at Muse, said: “Wolverhampton is an ambitious city with a can-do attitude. City Centre West sits at the heart of the Council’s vision, and the English Cities Fund is ready to work in partnership to deliver. The opportunity to create new homes, jobs, and public spaces through regeneration is clear. More importantly, regeneration is an opportunity to make a positive impact on people’s lives today and for future generations. We have already developed a close relationship with the Council and look forward to working together to leverage regeneration for the benefit of all Wolverhampton’s communities.”

Council Leader, Councillor Stephen Simkins, said: “The Wolverhampton Investment Prospectus presents an ambitious vision of how the city can grow – highlighting opportunities to build on the levels of public and private sector investment already on site or in the pipeline in Wolverhampton. Agreeing a partnership with English Cities Fund has the potential to attract significant investment and create new jobs across Wolverhampton – and it is important that we capitalise on the city’s pathfinder status referenced in the Government’s February 2022 Levelling Up White Paper, with the opportunities for investment that presents. A City Centre West scheme can provide a wide range of benefits with the introduction of new housing, new jobs, and opportunities as well as the social and economic benefits in linking the city back into the surrounding suburbs at precision and pace.”