Birmingham’s biggest city-centre regeneration — 17 hectares on the former wholesale markets, with 3,079 homes, a new Bull Ring markets, a festival square and a park planned. No homes on sale yet.
Smithfield is the regeneration of the former Birmingham wholesale markets site — 17 hectares just south of the Bull Ring, being delivered by Lendlease in partnership with Birmingham City Council. The masterplan, which secured outline planning in 2021, includes 3,079 apartments (around 40% for rent), 82,000 sqm of office space, 44,000 sqm of retail, a purpose-built new home for the city's historic Bull Ring markets, a festival square, a landscaped park and new cultural and leisure spaces.
The project has an estimated development end value of around $3.5 billion (roughly £1.9bn build value) and is expected to create up to 8,000 jobs through development and operation.
| Detail | Information | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Site | 17 hectares — former wholesale markets, plus Indoor, Open and Rag markets land | Verified |
| Delivery partners | Lendlease with Birmingham City Council | Verified |
| Homes planned | 3,079 apartments, c. 40% for rent | Verified |
| Masterplan planning | Secured 2021 | Verified |
| First residential phase | 408 build-to-rent apartments — approved; Bell Phillips Architects with Intervention Architecture | Verified |
| Affordable housing | Delivered in later phases, not the first | Verified |
| Construction | Vertical construction commencing from 2025 | Estimated |
| Full completion | Around 2035 | Estimated |
| Homes for sale | None yet — first phase is build-to-rent | Verified |
You can't buy at Smithfield yet. The first 408 homes are build-to-rent — owned by an investor and let, not sold. If sale homes come, they'll be in later phases, likely years away. The practical significance today is different: Smithfield is a demand and value signal for the surrounding area.
The nearby angle: developments within reach of Smithfield — including Edition Birmingham at Centenary Square and Glasswater Locks in Digbeth — sit in a city centre where a £1.9bn project is adding a park, markets, workspace and thousands of residents over the next decade. That's context worth weighing in any Birmingham city-centre purchase, without treating a 2035 masterplan as a guarantee.
Keep perspective: masterplans of this scale evolve. Phases, tenure mix, timings and even partners can change over a ten-year build — our review cycle tracks exactly that.
This profile is re-reviewed quarterly. Planning your own purchase elsewhere in the city meanwhile? Start with the calculators and the full cost of buying guide.
Weighing the returns? See Buy-to-Let in Birmingham, or browse everything in Property Intelligence.
Smithfield is Birmingham's biggest city-centre regeneration — 17 hectares on the site of the former wholesale markets, with 3,079 new homes planned alongside a new home for the Bull Ring markets, a festival square and a park. It is led by Lendlease with Birmingham City Council; the masterplan was approved in 2021.
No. Smithfield is at an early regeneration stage with no homes on sale, which is why we publish it as a monitoring profile rather than a full buyer guide. The first residential phase of 408 homes is build-to-rent (institutionally owned and rented, not for individual sale).
The scheme is led by Lendlease in partnership with Birmingham City Council. We update the profile as more of the delivery detail is confirmed.
Smithfield is a long-term, phased regeneration expected to run to around 2035. Individual phases and dates will firm up over time — we track it quarterly.
Some details above are marked Estimated or Awaiting. We re-verify every profile quarterly — follow Hall's Homes UK to catch updates as we confirm them.