A 298-home affordable housing development in Birmingham is expected to generate more than £3.1m of measured social value through local employment, apprenticeships, subcontracting, volunteering, and community investment.
Morro Partnerships is delivering the Yardley Brook scheme with Midland Heart and the West Midlands Combined Authority. The project began in 2024 with extensive site remediation before full construction activity started at the beginning of 2026.
The first homes are due to be handed over by the end of the year, while completion of the wider site is scheduled for 2030. West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker has committed more than £4.5m to the scheme.
Morro said 76 local people had been supported into employment and six apprentices were active on site. The development has already exceeded a £1.6m local subcontractor spending target set by Midland Heart.
The project has also recruited its first employee with lived experience of homelessness through the Standing Tall initiative, which Morro plans to extend across its regional portfolio.
Tom Broadway, Morro’s managing director in the West Midlands, said: “We are incredibly proud of the work that has gone into this development so far, beyond bricks and mortar, and it’s been great to see our teams collaborate with partners and getting behind the community action.
“For Morro, building homes and creating social value isn’t a box-ticking exercise; it’s about leaving a lasting legacy in the communities where we build. The Yardley Brook development is a prime example of how construction can drive social mobility, keep wealth in the local economy, and give people a genuine step up into a rewarding career.”
Employees have contributed 185 hours to community projects during the past year, including the Birmingham Mission Christmas appeal and Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s Magic Makers programme. A charity golf day raised £8,000, while financial donations to local causes exceeded £6,000.
The donations included £5,000 towards refurbishment of changing facilities at a nearby rugby club. The development has also provided physical items, including environmental barriers for St John’s and St Peter’s Primary School.
Abdul Mozzamdar, head of social purpose at Morro Partnerships, said: “To date, Morro has successfully supported 76 local people into employment, ensuring that project spending remains within the community. The team has already surpassed its £1.6 million target for local subcontractor spend set by Midland Heart, with six apprentices currently active on-site. Overall, we are on track to exceed £3.1 million in social value, which is an incredible achievement.”
Social value has become a more prominent part of publicly supported housing and infrastructure procurement. Authorities increasingly assess bidders on local employment, skills, spending, community engagement, and environmental outcomes alongside price and technical delivery.
Recorded value can include several different types of activity, and their long-term effects are not always equal. Volunteer hours and donations can be measured quickly, while employment and training depend on whether participants gain recognised qualifications, remain in work, and progress into more skilled roles.
Construction offers a broad base for those programmes because projects can support apprenticeships across trades, site management, engineering, procurement, surveying, administration, and design. The industry also faces persistent shortages of experienced workers, giving local training direct commercial value.
Current contractor shortages are constraining infrastructure delivery, while planned housing and transport investment will require a larger workforce over the remainder of the decade.
Linking training to an active development gives participants a clearer route into site experience than classroom provision alone. The quality of supervision, qualifications, and opportunities after the project will determine whether that experience produces a lasting employment outcome.
Parker said: “This development will change hundreds of lives for the better. Not only will it help tackle our region’s affordable housing crisis, but it will also help meet the other great challenge of our times – youth unemployment. There’s a building boom sweeping our region right now that’s powering new jobs, new homes and new opportunities. We must make sure local people, especially our young people, have the skills to get those jobs.
“That’s why, working with like-minded partners such as Morro, I’ve launched a £75m training package to give 12,000 people the construction skills needed to meet the industry’s soaring demand.”
Local subcontracting can retain a larger share of project expenditure within the regional economy, although smaller suppliers also need sufficient capacity, payment certainty, and access to future work once one development is completed.
Yardley Brook will ultimately be assessed on housing delivery and the durability of its community outcomes. Meeting the 2030 completion date while converting temporary construction activity into sustained employment would provide stronger evidence of social value than the headline total alone.
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