Dear readers — good morning! We hope you’re staying warm and enjoying the ramping up of festive frolics as Christmas fast approaches.
Over the weekend, a reluctant Samuel did some frolicking of his own. He headed to Birmingham’s Frankfurt Market to see if it could convert him from his Christmas market scepticism. After a few hours guzzling beer and munching on pork, and crunching the economic data, he decided that the markets are more good than bad — and posed the question, should Birmingham send its own market over to Germany?
His story was a big hit with readers who took to the comments with unique suggestions of their own: “I love the idea of staging something Brummie in Frankfurt. Some kind of Balti fest would be amazing,” wrote Camilla.
Samuel McIlhagga
On with today’s edition — Birmingham’s vast and controversial supported exempt accommodation sector is back under scrutiny thanks to a new investigation by The Observer and the BBC. Plus, eight people have been arrested following a mass brawl in the Jewellery Quarter over the weekend. Elsewhere, The Times school league tables for 2026 are out and Black Sabbath fans have been left disappointed that Birmingham Airport will not be renamed in honour of Ozzy.
And finally, The Dispatch's parent company Mill Media is hiring a Marketing and Events Assistant! If you know anyone who lives in Manchester and is highly creative, organised and efficient, please pass on the news.
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Photo of the week
Photo: @Colatron. The foundations for Digbeth’s Stone Yard Development, opposite the Spotted Dog pub, have been rapidly growing over the last few months. Once the development is finished it is due to provide 1000 homes, a 30 storey tower and 20,000 square feet of commercial space. According to the trade press, the West Midlands Combined Authority has given a brownfield grant to the project to provide 20% affordable housing.
Previously, campaigners, mostly made up of traders at Digbeth’s Custard Factory, have claimed the development will cast “a dark cloud” over the area and push out independent vendors.
What do you think? Much needed housing supply in an underdeveloped area? Or luxury flats surplus to requirement? Have your say in the comments.
Big Story: Would Birmingham's social housing scandal horrify Dickens?
Top line: Birmingham’s reputation as the flagship city for a controversial type of social housing is back in the spotlight with a new investigation by The Observer and BBC Radio 4.
Context: Supported exempt accommodation (SEA) — which many of you will be familiar with if you’ve read our work on housing entrepreneur Gurpaal Judge — is a big money spinner in Brum. Providers of this type of housing are meant to give additional support to tenants, who are often addicts in recovery, prison leavers or victims of domestic abuse. In return, they are exempt from the rent cap typically imposed on private landlords who rent to Local Housing Allowance recipients.
What does this mean in practice? SEA providers can charge what they like as long as they meet the loose requirement to give “more than minimal” support. As a result, costs are spiralling. The Observer found the total amount spent in Birmingham this year is £400m, around half of the country’s entire SEA spend. Essentially, public money is flooding into landlords' coffers but regulation of the sector is light.
The biggest actors: Five companies supply more than 70% of the SEA in Birmingham: Reliance, Windrush, Concept Housing, Ash Shahada and Sustain UK. All have been found, either recently or in the past, to be non-compliant by the Regulator for Social Housing (RSH).
Going undercover: A reporter pretending to be a recovering alcoholic called Mohammed, delved into the swathe of Gumtree ads for SEA in Birmingham. After sending out lots of enquiries, property agents jumped to his aid, telling him they could guarantee him a room. All he needed was to be on benefits, have ID, and money for the service charge. But few were interested to know what type of support he might need.
The Observer reported: “In general, all they wanted to know was whether he was claiming benefits.” One even offered Mohammed a room in a building advertised as “women-only”, despite his clearly male name.
Bleak expectations: SEA has a reputation for being grim. The Dispatch’s 2023 investigation into Lotus Sanctuary housing, founded in the West Midlands by the young and charismatic Gurpaal Judge, uncovered horrifying conditions: freezing flats and a stark lack of security. In 2022, Jess Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, claimed two women had been murdered in SEA. A report published by the London Assembly Housing Committee said it had also found “evidence of two homicides” in SEA.
Barry Toon, an expert who sits on Birmingham’s SEA forum, said: “The whole system is near-criminal in its ability to harvest public money so that exploitative providers can provide inadequate housing and support to vulnerable people. Even Charles Dickens would have been lost for words.”
What’s being done? The Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act was passed in 2023, to give the RSH more powers and oversight of third party agents. Currently the watchdog only has limited regulatory powers for the ultimate owners of the properties.
Bottom line: When approached by The Observer, both Birmingham City Council and the Ministry for Housing were enthusiastic about the act. However, the law won’t be fully implemented until 2027, by which time, as Toon says, “literally billions” will have been paid out to provide poor housing, while homelessness increases.”
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Brum in Brief
🚨 Eight people have been arrested after a brawl broke out in Birmingham City Centre early on Saturday morning. Two men were stabbed and a £200,000 Lamborghini was smashed to pieces on Summer Lane after the violent fray broke out. The pair were rushed to hospital with serious injuries but are now in a stable condition and the suspects, six men and two women all between the ages of 19 and 24, have been released on bail pending further enquiries. (Daily Mail).
🏫 A school for pupils with complex learning difficulties in Bromford and Hodge Hill is set to get a £7m upgrade to help it cope with “capacity pressures.” A Birmingham City Council report found the school did not have enough classrooms to meet the rising demand for spaces and the lack of room was leading to health and safety challenges. In the proposals, six new classrooms and increased space for dining are planned. (Express and Star).
Quick Hits
🧑🏫 Did you attend St Paul’s School for Girls? They’re at the top of The Times best comprehensive schools in the West Midlands 2026 league table. See the full article for the rest. (The Times).
🦇 Birmingham Airport will not be renamed after Ozzy Osbourne, despite popular support for the suggestion, including from the singer’s daughter Kelly. CEO Nick Barton said keeping the current name was “incredibly valuable for development.” (BBC).
💿 Robert Plant’s collaboration with Birmingham singer Suzi Dian and “a bunch of hairy, virtuosic Black Country musicians,” Saving Grace, has made it into The Times’ best albums of 2025 so far list. (The Times).
👮 Digbeth Police Station has reopened for the first time in 10 years, coinciding with a major redevelopment of the city centre’s east side and festive celebrations. (BBC).
Media picks
📰 The Guardian, following The Dispatch’s lead, have journeyed up to Stirchley, to report on what they describe as a “very English guerrilla war,” between flaggers and anti-flaggers in the gentrifying south Birmingham suburb. The article describes a campaign of public-shaming against those who object to the flag in Stirchley, including stickers on bins that read “I AM THE PERSON TAKING DOWN THE FLAGS” and flour and eggs being hurled at local businesses. One local anti-flagger describes the whole affair as reminiscent of “Cable Street,” when local anti-fascists confronted Oswald Moseley in 1936.
📰 Following a series of reports on West Midlands Police (WMP) intelligence surrounding last month's match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Aston Villa, The Times have published an un-bylined editorial on the subject. The newspaper makes the claim that: “it is sadly increasingly clear WMP have at every turn been twisting the facts in justifying the ban on Maccabi fans.” The editorial points out that the WMP’s factual inaccuracies have been mounting, with unfounded claims made to a parliamentary scrutiny committee, including about a nonexistent West Ham vs Maccabi Tel Aviv game and local Jewish support for a ban, heavily criticised. The piece ends by declaring the WMP’s intelligence: “a fit-up.”
Our to do list
🎞️ “No cheeses for us meeces”: tonight, Symphony Hall is screening Disney classic The Muppet Christmas Carol accompanied by a live orchestra. From £36.50.
🎷 On Tuesday, Digbeth jazz gets a Christmas makeover with big band energy. Head to the Night Owl for swinging sounds from 7pm. Tickets £7.
🎄 On Thursday, join local artists and mischief makers Tat Vision & Foka Wolf for their annual extravaganza — this time with a crisp theme. Crisp Mass is on at Nortons from 7pm. Tickets £17.85.
🖌️ On Saturday afternoon, learn about Timurid architecture and paint your own coaster to take home with you at the Museum of Islamic Arts and Heritage. From £12.08.
🎶 On Saturday night, listen to your festive favourites – with a few cinematic hits thrown in – from a full orchestra and choir at the University of Birmingham’s Elgar Concert Hall. From £16.96.
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