Steven Knight said Fazeley Street was the next stage of Digbeth's creative story as Homes England named Digbeth Loc Studios Ltd its preferred development partner for a major mixed-use scheme in Birmingham. Subject to contract and a standstill period, the move would put the team behind Digbeth Loc Studios in charge of shaping a new neighbourhood on one of the city's best-known regeneration sites. For Birmingham, this is more than another property announcement. Homes England is tying public backing to the idea that film, television and creative production can do some of the heavy lifting in city-centre growth, with new homes and jobs meant to arrive alongside studio space and commercial units.

The site sits on Fazeley Street in Digbeth, an area that has spent years shifting from industrial base to one of the West Midlands' busiest creative quarters. In its announcement, Homes England said the plan would build on the pull of BBC Studioworks, The Bond, The Custard Factory and The Tea Factory, keeping workspaces, homes and visitor activity in the same part of town rather than splitting them apart. That matters because Digbeth's appeal has never been only about one studio or one headline tenant. Its strength is in the concentration of makers, producers, small firms, venues and freelancers already working side by side, with enough character left in the old streets and brickwork to stop the area feeling like a blank-sheet development.

Jo Nugent, Homes England's Executive Director for the Midlands, said the aim was to build on Digbeth's unique identity while creating new room for businesses and residents to grow. In plainer terms, the agency is betting that regeneration works best here if it keeps faith with what Digbeth already is, rather than sanding the rough edges off it. That is also the message from Digbeth Loc Studios itself. Knight said the scheme should help local talent build a future in Birmingham and strengthen the city's standing in film and television. Coming from the creator of Peaky Blinders, and from a business already rooted in the area, that carries more weight than the usual glossy pitch.

West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker has wrapped this vision in big language since last year, saying he wants Digbeth to be bigger, better and bolder than Manchester's Media City. Homes England's decision gives that ambition another piece of substance, linking civic rhetoric to land, development control and a named delivery partner. Parker pointed to the role played by Knight, the BBC and Production Central WM in helping Digbeth emerge as a nationally significant base for creative work. Birmingham City Council leader Roger Harmer struck a similar note, saying the move complements wider public realm work already under way and supports the area's distinctive cultural character.

What the combined pitch offers is straightforward enough: more studio-led growth, more homes, more employment and more outside investment, all wrapped into one neighbourhood rather than scattered across separate sites. Supporters say that mix gives creative-led regeneration a better chance of lasting, because it keeps activity going after office hours and spreads the benefit beyond a single employer. The announcement also puts fresh emphasis on the BBC's investment at Typhoo Wharf and on Digbeth Loc Studios' growing role as a production base, including its link to the new Peaky Blinders franchise. In the West Midlands, officials see that as a way to keep more of the supply chain nearby, from set build and post-production to hospitality, transport and freelance crew work.

There is form behind the sales pitch. The development team says it previously turned the Banana Warehouse on this site into the MasterChef studio, and has also worked on Television Centre and the Truman Brewery in London. For Homes England, the mayor and the council, that track record helps answer the obvious question of whether this can move from civic ambition to bricks, jobs and occupied space. Even so, plenty still sits ahead. Homes England has named a preferred partner, not a finished scheme, and the deal remains subject to contract. The figures that usually matter most to residents - how many homes, what kind of jobs and when work starts - are not the part of the story settled by this announcement.

Still, the direction is clear. Birmingham is trying to show that city-centre renewal outside London does not need to copy Canary Wharf or wait for a finance giant to ride in. It can start with culture, production space and public land used with a bit more nerve. That is why the move matters beyond the West Midlands. For northern cities making their own case for studio space, mixed-use regeneration and creative jobs, Digbeth is another live test of whether regional Britain can keep more of its talent, tell its own stories and make growth stick close to home.