The five biggest housing developments passed in Sandwell this year

Former factory sites, playing fields and even an old golf course will be handed over to developers to make way for new estates and tower blocks after decisions made by Sandwell councillors.

Here are the five biggest to be decided in Sandwell this year:

Brandhall Golf Course

The controversial work for the former Oldbury golf course includes 190 new homes, a replacement Causeway Green Primary School and a new 67-acre public park. 

A total of 200 objections were made against the application including those from the Brandhall Green Space Action Group, which was initially formed to fight off the threat of any building on the green space after the golf course closed in 2019. The campaign resulted in Sandwell Council tracking back on a move to build 550 homes on the same land.

The foundations for the first of the 190 proposed homes will not be laid for at least another 18 months, with Sandwell Council still needing to find a developer for the new estate.

A cabinet report said that a decision on an ‘appropriate’ developer was not expected until next summer, and work on the homes would not begin until summer 2026 “at the earliest.” 

The replacement primary school is not expected to open until early 2027.

Friar Park, Wednesbury

Persimmon will be building 105 new homes on playing fields off Friar Park Road in Wednesbury after getting the backing from Sandwell Council in October.

The major housing developer already had permission to build 84 homes on the land – after plans were given the green light by Sandwell Council in 2020 – but the developer returned with a bigger application 12 months ago.

Two new sports pitches – as well as changing rooms and similar facilities for local clubs – would be installed at the Phoenix Collegiate in West Bromwich as part of the Friar Park work.

The playing fields are next door to the planned 600-home estate being built in Friar Park across the next decade. 

Green Street, West Bromwich

A home used by a drug gang as a safehouse will be demolished to make way for a new tower block. The five-bed home in Green Street, West Bromwich, was used to store crack cocaine and heroin by drug-dealing brothers Dylon and Reis Salhan, before it was raided by police in 2022. 

Sandwell Council’s planning committee approved a plan to see the former five-bed home off the busy Kenrick Way demolished to make way for an 11-storey tower block with 60 flats.

The 60 flats would be built next to four 17-storey tower blocks in the Kenrick Park estate. The four tower blocks, Lissimore House, Mountford House, Greenford House and Kenrick House all date back to the 1960s.

Guns Lane, West Bromwich

Plans to demolish the former Tentec site in Guns Lane behind West Bromwich High Street to make way for 125 new apartments was also approved this year.

The majority of has been empty since the engineering firm moved to the i54 business park near Wolverhampton in 2017. The planning application for the apartments was first put forward nearly two years ago, but amended six times before being approved by Sandwell Council. 

The site would be replaced with eight new apartment blocks and 60 parking spaces. Several changes were requested by Sandwell Council before its planners were satisfied with the application.

The original plan was for more than 140 flats in several buildings, with some reaching five storeys, which the council said would be “overbearing”. Planners also said the proposed layout was “cramped and overcrowded” and looked “shoehorned.”

Union Street, Tipton

A major £20m ‘levelling up’ project which will see 55 new council flats built in Tipton town centre.

The ageing blocks in Union Street, which date to the 1950s, and the adjacent Albion Street car park would make way for a new three-to-four-storey block. The much-needed flats would address a chronic shortage of affordable housing and long waiting lists in Tipton and across Sandwell, the council said.