Birmingham Local Conservatives have welcomed HMRC’s decision to commence wind up proceedings against Second City, a major Birmingham-based exempt accommodation provider, describing it as a necessary intervention that highlights serious failures in oversight under the previously Labour-run Birmingham City Council.
The group criticised the previous involvement of the Labour administration with Second City, questioning how a company of this nature was able to secure public contracts and operate at scale within the city’s housing ecosystem.
Cllr Robert Alden (Con, Erdington), Leader of the Birmingham Conservative Group, said:
We welcome HMRC’s action to wind up Second City. This development exposes deep flaws in how housing provision has been managed under Labour in Birmingham. Taxpayers and local residents deserve better than providers who end up in this position.
For too long, the Labour council has prioritised volume over quality and stability in housing. The growth of badly run HMOs and exempt accommodation is destroying family suburbs, like Erdington, across the city. Decisive action is needed not to clean up our housing and neighbourhoods. Getting into bed with organisations like Second City has clearly not served the interests of Birmingham families and has enabled the proliferation of badly run Exempt Accommodation which has blighted local communities. It is now time for the Council to act decisively in the public interest.
The Conservatives are urging the council to intervene immediately by acquiring Second City’s housing stock and any properties it leases from private landlords.
Cllr Alden added:
We call on the Council to step in and purchase the accommodation owned or leased by Second City. These properties should be converted back into genuine family housing, protected by strong covenants to prevent them from being turned back into houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) or exempt accommodation in the future and sold back to Birmingham families to recover costs for the council.
Birmingham needs more family homes, including more privately owned housing, not an ever-expanding portfolio of poorly managed, exempt accommodation. Protective covenants will ensure these homes serve local families for generations to come rather than being flipped for maximum profit by private operators shipping in people from elsewhere with little or no support. This is a chance for the Council to correct past mistakes and put residents first.
Birmingham Conservatives believe this presents a significant opportunity to rebalance the city’s housing market, increase the supply of privately owned family-sized accommodation, and restore public confidence in how housing assets are managed.