Gateshead Council has taken a major step forward by deciding to procure a Joint Venture partner to help it deliver new housing throughout the Borough.
At their meeting on 17th June, Gateshead Council's Cabinet agreed to procure a lead developer or consortium to transform no less than 25 sites, most of which are within the Bridging Newcastle Gateshead (BNG) area of Gateshead, which is part of one of nine housing market renewal pathfinders in the North and Midlands.
The proposal will lead to the construction of over 2,500 new family homes as well as improvements to existing homes in Central Gateshead, developing what appears to be largest housing regeneration project in the UK.
The gross development value of the proposal is around £1bn which, when taking into account other major projects in Gateshead such as the Town Centre redevelopment, the £300m Baltic Business Quarter and other Quayside developments, means that Gateshead is now one of the biggest regeneration areas in the UK and one of the largest regeneration programmes outside London.
Gateshead already has a reputation for working closely with private sector partners to deliver major developments such as the Sage Gateshead, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Arts and Gateshead Millennium Bridge. It is now looking for partners who can deliver innovative, sustainable housing which will build on the success of previous residential developments such as Wimpey’s Staiths South Bank development and LiveSmart@Home’s Boklok development near Gateshead’s International Stadium - the UKs first modular homes built by IKEA.
Councillor David Napier, Cabinet member for Safer Stronger Communities, says: “The Housing Market Renewal programme is a major priority for the Council. Our ambition has always been for this programme to act as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Gateshead with the aim of creating transformed and sustainable communities.
“Our decision to procure a Joint Venture Partnership is a bold move, but it is one which should help us to significantly increase our delivery capacity and the scale and speed of delivery.
“With increasing pressure on public sector finances, maximising the return from assets over the longer-term and securing greater levels of private sector finance may well prove essential. By partnering with the private sector, our dependency on central government grants should reduce, providing us with greater economic and policy freedoms to direct resources to where local people say we should direct them.”
The Callcutt Review of housebuilding delivery, which was commissioned by the Government in 2006 and which advocated greater use of redundant inner city sites, recommended that local authorities should adopt new ways of working, including sharing the financial benefits of investing in our towns and cities.
One of Calcutt’s key recommendations was that developers and local authorities should create new mature partnerships to gain mutual benefit from developing inner city and other urban sites.
Gateshead Council’s announcement reflects growing levels of interest and activity in the area’s development. Earlier this month, energy giant nPower announced that it will be taking 110, 000 sq ft of office space in three new high-spec buildings at Gateshead’s Baltic Business Quarter, with an option on a further 80,000 sq ft. The company will be joining Gateshead College, whose new £39m campus is already in situ, and the Open University, whose new regional HQ is currently nearing completion.
Developers wishing to register their interest for this proposal should contact Craig Ellis, Development and Enterprise, Gateshead Council on (0191) 433 3229 or by emailing craigellis@gateshead.gov.uk.