Tees Valley Mayor Signs Off Funding for Next Phase of Major Brownfield Housing Scheme

Tees Valley Combined Authority | Published on: 15th February 2021

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen has agreed the latest tranche of funding to redevelop disused brownfield land and help create 14 homes in Stockton-on-Tees.

The project, delivered by national housebuilder Keepmoat Homes, will see 14 two-bedroom bungalows for older people and vulnerable residents created on the previously cleared site of Elm House, on Bath Lane.

The development forms part of ambitious plans to regenerate Stockton town centre and sits adjacent to the £18.7million Sycamores housing scheme which Keepmoat Homes and Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council officially launched in October last year, and which is breathing new life into the now-demolished Victoria Estate.

The latest homes represent the next stage in an overall five-year programme to create 1,800 houses on neglected and disused land following £19.4million funding from Government’s Brownfield Housing Fund.

It comes just days after the Mayor’s approval of funding for 47 new homes at Lynn Street and Whitby Street in Hartlepool, subject to the granting of planning permission. Further sites in the programme set for redevelopment are Gresham and Middlehaven in Middlesbrough and South Bank in Redcar which, alongside the Stockton and Hartlepool sites, will deliver 945 homes in the first year of the programme.

This will lead to more than 2,300 construction jobs created or safeguarded along with almost 50 new apprentices recruited. When complete, the sites are together expected to add around £120million to the regional economy.

Mayor Houchen said: “I’m delighted to be continuing the rollout of funding to help regenerate our towns and communities and breathe new life into dilapidated land, creating new houses where they are needed the most.

“These homes are a key element of this scheme and the wider redevelopment plans for Stockton, making it an even better place for local residents. They will help create and safeguard 70 jobs and six apprentices, all vital lifelines at this difficult time.

“We’re still only in the first year of this exciting and transformational project, but when it’s complete, people across Teesside, Darlington and Hartlepool will be able to see a real and long-lasting transformation in these areas.”

Councillor Nigel Cooke, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Housing, said: “The homes will be a welcome addition and another piece in the jigsaw as we continue on with our plans to improve every town centre across Stockton-on-Tees and make them fit for the future.

“We know we have to rejuvenate our town centres and high streets in different ways and encouraging people to live in or nearby them is key to what we’re trying to achieve.”

Ian Prescott, North East Land and Partnerships Director at Keepmoat Homes, said: “This is the latest in a long line of collaborations with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and we are delighted to have signed the agreements which will help rejuvenate another part of the town, providing 14 homes for vulnerable people in the area.

“The speed at which the site has been green-lighted, in less than three months, given the complexities of planning applications, whilst operating in a national lockdown and with a Christmas break in between, is unprecedented in Keepmoat Homes’ history.”

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