Construction Intelligence Report

Birmingham has 105,294 unbuilt homes on brownfield land — more than any other city in England.

Free government data. No subscription. Updated from 9 government data sources covering tenders, companies, wages, planning, and flood risk.

1,126
Active brownfield sites
105,294
Estimated dwellings in pipeline
181
Construction tenders (12 months)
1,216
New-build completions
Hire in Birmingham. Free on Site Team

Interactive Opportunity Map

Click any marker for details. Toggle layers to explore different data.

Map Layers
Brownfield status:
Permissioned
Not permissioned
Pending

Brownfield Pipeline

1,126
Active sites
105,294
Estimated dwellings
817
Hectares
1.2%
Delivery rate
67.5%
32.1%
Permissioned (760) Not permissioned (361) Pending (5)
At current build rates, Birmingham's brownfield pipeline represents over 87 years of construction work. 760 of the 1,126 sites already have planning permission.

What This Means For You

If you're a Midlands subcontractor and you're not already bidding here, you're in the wrong city. 760 sites have planning permission. The work will happen. The only question is who builds it.

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Tenders & Procurement

181
Tenders (12 months)
GBP 387.7M
Total value
GBP 300,634
Median value

99 of 181 tenders (54.7%) flagged as SME-suitable · Data from Contracts Finder, March 2026. Visit Contracts Finder for current open tenders.

Value Distribution

Under GBP 100K
36
GBP 100K - 500K
53
GBP 500K - 1M
29
GBP 1M+
34
Not stated
29

Top Buyers in Birmingham

BuyerTenders
Environment Agency42
National Highways35
Birmingham City Council20
National Highways Limited15
Balfour Beatty VINCI JV HS211
Over half of Birmingham tenders are flagged SME-suitable. The median contract is GBP 300,634, right in the sweet spot for a growing subcontractor.

What This Means For You

The median Birmingham tender is £300K. Over half are flagged SME-suitable. Most subcontractors never bid because they don't know the tenders exist. Follow our WhatsApp channel below and we'll flag new ones weekly.

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New-Build Market

1,216
Completions since Apr 2024
GBP 273,000
Median price

Property Type Mix

Flats
79.4%
Semi-detached
10.8%
Detached
4.9%
Terraced
4.4%
Other
0.5%

Comparison: Birmingham median (GBP 273,000) vs West Midlands (GBP 304,000) vs England (GBP 336,000)

Birmingham's new-build market is dominated by flatted development, likely city centre brownfield conversions. At GBP 273,000 median, prices are below the national average. That tightens builder margins but also keeps national housebuilders away.

What This Means For You

79% flats tells you exactly which trades are in demand here: drylining, M&E, plastering, finishing, kitchens, bathrooms. If that's your specialism, Birmingham has more work per contractor than almost anywhere else in England.

Workforce & Wages

ONS ASHE 2025 · Full-time median hourly gross pay

TradeWest MidlandsUK AverageLondon
Site ManagerGBP 28.52GBP 25.85GBP 30.77
ElectricianGBP 18.64GBP 19.20GBP 20.88
Plumber / HVACGBP 17.01GBP 18.18GBP 20.60
Carpenter / JoinerGBP 16.54GBP 17.04GBP 19.36
BricklayerGBP 14.91GBP 16.75GBP 14.48
General LabourerGBP 13.53GBP 13.85GBP 15.50
West Midlands construction wages are among the lowest in England. Combined with the biggest brownfield pipeline in the country, this gives the region one of the best opportunity-to-cost ratios for contractors.

What This Means For You

West Midlands rates are low, but the pipeline is enormous. That's leverage. If you're quoting below these ONS medians, you're selling yourself short in a market with decades of work ahead.

Check the latest rates on Site Team's Rate Calculator →

Flood Risk

44
Sites in flood zones
3.9%
Of all brownfield sites
12,934
Dwellings on flood-risk land
17
Flood Zone 2 (medium risk)
27
Flood Zone 3 (high risk)
44 Birmingham brownfield sites sit in EA Flood Zones. That's 3.9%, relatively low compared to London (19.5%) and Yorkshire (20.5%). But those 44 sites will need flood-resilient construction methods, SuDS drainage, and specialist skills. Toggle the flood layer on the map above to see which ones.

What This Means For You

44 sites need flood-resilient construction: SuDS drainage, tanking, specialist groundwork. Fewer contractors have this experience, which means less competition and better margins. If you've done flood zone work before, these are your targets.