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Smithfield Birmingham is a major £1.9 billion regeneration scheme in Birmingham’s City Centre. Smithfield Birmingham Regeneration is a joint venture between Birmingham City Council and Lendlease, an Australian real estate and investment business. The regeneration will see more than 3,000 new homes, workspaces for businesses as well as culture and leisure facilities. Smithfield Birmingham partners say this “once in a generation opportunity has the potential to reshape Birmingham’s city centre”.
The plan: New homes in Birmingham City Centre
Smithfield Birmingham is the regeneration of approximately 17 hectares (170,000 square metres or approximately 17 football fields) of land that was formerly the home of Birmingham’s wholesale market. Developers say Birmingham’s historic Bull Ring Markets “will remain at the heart of these plans. The plan is to relocate them across two new buildings: one for indoor dining and another Rag Market. There will also be an outdoor market in a new square.
Lendlease says the designs focus on high-quality architecture, landscape and public spaces. The regeneration project also promises to create up to 9,000 new jobs and deliver economic benefits to the city and wider West Midlands region “whilst preserving the rich local heritage, particularly the historic markets, which have existed for over 800 years.”
Phase One includes 380,000 sq ft workspace across two buildings, 45,000 sq ft retail, 20,000 sq ft leisure and 95,000 sq ft market space.
The plans include public green spaces, a “Festival Square” and new public parks as well as a theatre and cinema.
Timeline
Public consultation on the future of Smithfield began in 2022 with a hybrid planning application submitted in December 2022. In early 2023, the design was updated in response to feedback and a public consultation on the updated design took place in October 2023.
The masterplan for Smithfield Birmingham was submitted in late 2023 and was approved unanimously by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee in June 2024. Detailed planning for the first phase was submitted in late 2024. In 2025, £172.8 million Enterprise Zone Funding was approved
In March, 2025, planning permission was granted for a mixed-use building, designed by Bell Phillips and local practice Intervention Architecture. The building overlooking Manor Square will provide 408 built-to-rent homes. The building is the first residential element of Smithfield Birmingham’s regeneration and will incorporate a leisure facility, shops, bars and restaurants.
Phase one will start in 2026 and is expected to be completed by early 2028. Phase two is due to start in 2027 and the full project is due to be completed in 2035.
The history of Smithfield
According to Birmingham Wholesale Markets website, Birmingham’s markets date back to 1166, when Peter de Birmingham secured a Royal Charter to hold a market at his castle. This early trading hub laid the foundations for Birmingham’s growth as a commercial centre. Over the centuries, markets for corn, cattle, fish and meat spread through the town before being concentrated around the Bull Ring in the early 1800s.
The first Smithfield Market opened in 1817 on the site of the old manor house, followed by new wholesale markets for fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat throughout the 19th century. After post-war congestion and the demolition of the Fish Market in 1958, traders eventually moved to the Pershore Street Wholesale Market in 1974.
In 2018, the Wholesale Market relocated again to a state-of-the-art site in Witton, securing its future as one of Europe’s largest integrated markets.
Smithfield Birmingham: 2022 Commonwealth Games
Before the regeneration began, Smithfield played a starring role in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. A festival hub hosted the 3×3 basketball and beach volleyball competitions in temporary arenas with seating for 2,500 and 4,000 spectators respectively.
The Smithfield Festival Site also offered live performances, big screens, and cultural events.
The use for the Commonwealth Games also highlighted the areas great transport links and accessibility.
Smithfield Birmingham: Criticism
In June 2024, campaigners CityPark4Brum warned that the regeneration scheme would provide far too little green space for local residents.
The group gathered more than 11,000 signatures, arguing the project is a missed opportunity to create a much larger park in one of the city’s most densely populated wards. They pointed to Manchester’s Mayfield Park as an example of how green space can anchor major urban schemes.
Developers Lendlease and Birmingham city council said the plans strike a balance between housing and viability, with revisions already increasing the park’s size by 23%. A final decision on the scheme is expected soon.
Historic England also raised concerns about preserving medieval remains. The plans were revised in response to this.
Plans to demolish the Bull Ring indoor market to make way for student housing were unanimously refused by Birmingham City Council’s planning committee in 2024. Councillors emphasised the need to preserve the market’s heritage. The council extended the lease on the indoor market until 2027 to allow for the construction of a temporary market and ensure continuity for traders, while working with Lendlease, the Smithfield developer, to minimise disruption during the transition. Despite these measures, some councillors remain concerned that a permanent guarantee for the market’s future has not yet been secured.
Lendlease Concerns
Lendlease temporarily raised concerns about its UK projects after announcing it would focus construction in Australia, but in May 2025 it formed a joint venture with The Crown Estate to support development on its remaining UK sites, including Smithfield.
Smithfield Birmingham: Financial Concerns
In July 2025, a report by Birmingham City Council, which has already been hit by a financial crisis, revealed the regeneration could leave it with a £29 million cost to meet the demand for extra school places.
The report said: “At this stage, if the scheme is to progress, the council, as a worst-case position, will need to underwrite the costs of the education provision.”
It continued: “A more strategic approach to identifying the increased demand on service provision, including education, will now be required
“Discussions on the future needs of the city need to commence.”
Other partners in Smithfield Birmingham
Lendlease is working with masterplanners Prior + Partners and David Kohn Architects on the new market design. The design line-up includes dRMM, Intervention Architecture, Haworth Tompkins, Minesh Patel Architects and RCKa, while the extensive new public realm and landscaping will be led by James Corner Field Operations.
