Renters in the greater Birmingham area are increasingly looking for rental properties outside the city as the current wave of bin strikes continues, according to the lettings team at Solihull estate agency DM & Co. Homes.
Mounds of rubbish are piling high on the streets of Birmingham because of striking bin collectors, after talks aimed at ending a strike by waste collectors in Birmingham ended yesterday without a breakthrough.
Members of the Unite union in the city launched an all-out strike on 11 March in a long-running dispute over pay, leading to rubbish piling up and bins remaining unemptied for weeks. Residents have complained that rats are rummaging through the waste, leading to fears over public health.
Last Tuesday, almost 400 council bin workers in the city began indefinite strike action. United said the Labour-run city council could end the dispute “by agreeing to pay a decent rate of pay”. Union officials met council officers on Thursday, but the strike continues.
A Unite spokesperson said: “The talks were inconclusive. There was an exchange of information and Unite asked for clarity on a number of points raised by the council, which are currently being worked on.
“It was agreed that there would be further regular negotiations, but dates for further talks have not yet been set.”
A Birmingham city council spokesperson commented: “Birmingham city council and Unite met this afternoon to discuss the current industrial action. Whilst no resolution was reached today, there are points for discussion, the tone was constructive and we are working on the matters raised.
“We have contacted Unite representatives to schedule the series of future meeting dates.”
Chiara Gemeli-Williams, a letting negotiator at DM & Co. Homes, said that the existing chaos was driving tenants out of the city.
She explained: “We are seeing a definite upsurge in inquiries from those who work in Birmingham but want to be just over the border.
“Areas like Shirley, Acocks Green and Chelmsley Wood come under Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council but are no further from employment areas than most other suburbs of Birmingham.
According to Gemeli-Williams, there has also been increasing interest from tenants in areas like Alvechurch, Wythall, Hollywood and Earlswood which were outside the city boundaries but an easy daily commute.
She continued: “We are picking up this message not only from prospective tenants contacting us but also landlords and investors who don’t want the hassle that Birmingham is currently experiencing.”
The news comes the day after police had to intervene as residents swarmed around a mobile waste lorry visiting Anderton Park Road in Moseley, desperate to have their rubbish removed.
Police had to disperse crowds looking to leave their rubbish and issued a warning about potential fly-tipping by those who leave their rubbish out.
Gemeli-Williams added: “While the current chaos continues in Birmingham it is likely to drive both tenants and investors to favour properties just outside the city boundary because they know there is more likelihood that services such as bin collection will be more regular.”
