This is what the first homes at Solihull’s new ‘mini village’ will look like

The first phase of a new ‘mini village’ which will see 750 homes built in Solihull has been given the green light.Bloor Homes has been granted planning permission to build 170 new homes at IM Properties’ Blythe Valley Park (BVP), close to Junction 4 of the M42.Solihull Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve the developer’s application for the site, and construction work is expected to get under way in the autumn.The 170 homes being built by Bloor Homes represent the first phase of residential development at Blythe Valley Park, a mixed-used scheme which is set to break the mould for business parks in the Midlands by combining commercial, leisure and residential uses on one site.Outline planning consent for 750 homes, 98,800 sq metres of employment floorspace and a 250-bed care facility was granted to Warwickshire-based IM Properties, the company behind the scheme, in March 2017.The new housing development is expected to create up to 7,300 new jobs.The scheme will also see the opening up of an existing 122-acre country park.Several companies, including Gymshark, Infor, PKF Cooper Parry, Siemens and Zenith, are already established at the business park, while recent additions include coffee shop Java Lounge, Virgin Active Health and Busy Bees nursery.The first phase of 170 homes will be built on a 4.9 hectare site located in the south west of Blythe Valley Park, and will comprise a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom properties.A total of 43 of the homes will be provided as affordable housing for social rent and shared ownership, while IM Properties will be making a contribution of £228,004 towards local services and infrastructure through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).