An Ill Wind: How The Birmingham Clean Air Zone Is Blowing Development North East
Birmingham’s new Clean Air Zone is blowing the city’s property market in Aston’s direction.
The district north-east of the city centre is now seeing multiple deals that hinge on its location outside the control zone.
Aston House, a 6,400 SF two-storey office building at Aston Road North, is nobody’s idea of super-sleek modern office space. Nonetheless it found a buyer in owner-occupier Knightsbridge Developments, which paid £750K for ground and first-floor offices together with a storage area and roller shutter access.
Importantly, the side has a frontage to the busy Dartmouth Circus Island, so it benefits from excellent access to the various trunk roads surrounding Birmingham City Centre and Midland Motorway network.
All of those links are outside the Birmingham Clean Air Zone, which covers all city centre roads within the A4540 Middleway Ring Road but not the Middleway itself. To enter the zone means a charge for vans and light goods vehicles of £8 a day, and heavy goods vehicles/lorries £50 a day. Aston, north east of the city centre, is benefitting.
“The Clean Air Zone is an important consideration for many businesses as they want to avoid being hit with the emissions charge," Burley Browne Senior Surveyor Steven Hannaford said. "Aston House is in an ideal location, being just outside the ring road with excellent access to the city centre, the A38, M6 and the wider motorway network.”
In December 2021 it emerged that another scheme nearby also benefitted from its position outside the zone.
Northwood Urban Logistics said its plans for a new 93K SF urban logistics hub at Aston Hall Road, which is just beyond the control zone’s boundary, have been inspired by the clean air zone controls.
