Walsall Borough Housing Strategy 2026 - Our vision and priorities

A robust and inclusive process has been taken to inform this housing strategy. This has involved thorough analysis of relevant data and evidence, comprehensive stakeholder engagement across council teams, partners, and the community, and active listening to the issues and aspirations raised. In response, a decisive strategic framework for Walsall’s future housing has been defined, anchored by a clear and ambitious vision. This framework is organised around four ‘big moves’—major transformative priorities—with supporting SMART objectives and a detailed, deliverable action plan. Together, these elements provide a coherent roadmap for addressing the challenges, capitalising on opportunities, and delivering positive outcomes for all residents over the coming years.

Our vision

By 2040, Walsall will have a healthy, safe, inclusive, and energy-efficient housing offer, providing high quality homes and vibrant, resilient communities for all residents. Our approach will support green economic growth, health, wellbeing, and strong social cohesion throughout the borough, enabling opportunity and independence for everyone.

Realising the strategy

To make this vision a reality there are four big moves that need to be taken between now and 2040:

1. INTERVENTION to achieve the right tenure mix and provision - An ongoing commitment to Walsall’s role as an active market-shaper and enabler—using council and partner intervention to unlock supply, raise standards, and address market failures in housing, regeneration, and placemaking.
2. INVESTMENT in supply, quality, energy efficiency and healthy environments - Attract and accelerate investment in new and existing homes to deliver more, better-quality, energyefficient, and healthy housing — especially in areas of greatest need — through targeted programmes, strong standards, and cross-sector partnerships.
3. INCLUSIVE GROWTH for residents, businesses and wider community - Transform Walsall’s neighbourhoods, town and district centres, and priority areas through a joined-up, placebased placemaking approach—putting community, wellbeing, and local identity at the heart of housing, regeneration, and public realm investment.
4. INTEGRATE partnerships governance and data for delivery – Create a confident investable place proposition through establishing integrated partnerships, robust governance, and transparent, evidence-based data — so that partners, investors, and communities see Walsall as open, reliable, and the best place to invest, develop, and collaborate.

Alignment with local government outcomes framework (LGOF) 

Our vision and strategic priorities contribute directly to the Local Government Outcomes Framework by addressing key areas such as homelessness reduction, access to quality affordable housing, health and social care integration, community safety and cohesion, and environmental sustainability. This ensures that Walsall not only meets local needs but also aligns with national priorities for inclusive, healthy, and resilient communities.

Enabling functions

Each of the four big moves within the strategic framework is supported by a comprehensive set of SMART objectives and targeted actions. To ensure effective delivery, all actions are categorised against six enabling functions:

• People & Partnerships – Having the right resources and teams in place to foster collaborative relationships across the council, external partners, stakeholders, and the community to enable shared ownership, co-production, and effective joint delivery of strategy objectives.
• Processes – Implementing streamlined, transparent, and efficient systems, workflows, and decisionmaking procedures that support strategy delivery, improve coordination, and reduce barriers to progress.
• Place Based Focus – Ensuring that actions and interventions are tailored to the unique needs, opportunities, and priorities of specific neighbourhoods, localities, and communities — putting local identity and spatial equity at the heart of decision making.
• Policy – Aligning local, regional, and national policies, frameworks, and standards to support strategic objectives, create enabling conditions, and ensure consistency, compliance, and responsiveness to change.
• Promotion – Communicating our investable proposition, vision, opportunities, and achievements proactively to residents, partners, and investors; building confidence in Walsall as a place to live, work, and invest through effective marketing and engagement. 
• Performance – Measuring, monitoring, and reporting on delivery against agreed objectives, using data and KPIs to drive continuous improvement, accountability, and evidence-led decision making.

Targets

• The objectives reflect the latest cohort-specific needs and delivery ambitions indicated by the HMA, Housing LIN Report and Market Position Statement. 
• All figures and identified tenure mix are based on projected need for the 2026 – 2031 period. 
• Delivery will emphasise quality, flexibility, accessibility, and integration with health/social care strategies. 
• The targets will be kept under review and refined based on the latest evidence of needs as we move towards 2031.

Impact assessment

A systematic methodology has been applied to score and weight all proposed actions within a strategic framework to ensure the action plan is both impactful and focused on delivering its 2040 vision. Each action was mapped against the key objectives and then assessed for its strategic impact. Actions were scored on a four-point scale:

• High impact (3) for those considered essential and primary enablers of an objective;
• Medium impact (2) for important contributors that support objectives but are not the main drivers;
• Low impact (1) for minor or supporting influences; 

Following this assessment, only those actions identified as having high or medium strategic impact (those scoring 2 or 3) have been included in the final strategy. This approach ensures that resources and effort are focused on interventions most likely to deliver significant change for residents, communities, and partners. 

This structured approach provides a clear line of sight from vision to implementation, enabling us to monitor progress, allocate resources efficiently, and adapt responsively as we deliver lasting improvements for our communities