GATESHEAD STEPS CLOSER TO £1bn HOUSING PARTNER
Gateshead Council has taken a major step forward in its bid to find a partner to build more than 3,000 new family homes in Gateshead.
Gateshead Council's Cabinet have approved a shortlist of four consortia for further consideration.
The four developers expected to be chosen by Cabinet members are:
- Barratt Keepmoat
- Compendium Group (comprising Riverside Group and Lovell Partnerships)
- McInerney Homes NE and First Base
- Home Group and Galliford Try
Eventually, the successful developer will be given the task of transforming no less than 19 sites in Gateshead, nine of which are within the Bridging NewcastleGateshead (BNG) area of Gateshead.
All of the consortia have a track record of quality development and partnership working and have demonstrated an understanding of the needs of and opportunities in Gateshead.
Gateshead Council originally selected nine potential bidders and asked each of them to draft outline development proposals for three specific areas of Gateshead. These were then carefully assessed to identify four developers to go forward to the next more detailed stage of the bidding process.
Gateshead Council launched its search for a single joint venture partner last year to oversee the regeneration of a number of communities, including the construction of over 3,000 new family homes as well as improvements to existing homes and the wider environment - offering the chance to develop what appears to be largest housing regeneration project anywhere in the UK.
The gross value of the proposal is around £1bn which, when taking into account other major projects in Gateshead such as the Town Centre redevelopment, the £300mn 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.
Its search for partners who can deliver innovative, sustainable housing to 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 UK's first modular homes built by IKEA.
Councillor Angela Armstrong, Cabinet member for Housing, says: "Creating quality family homes for local people is a major priority for the Council.
"Selecting a shortlist of four key developers is a major step forward in realising our ambition to capitalise on Tyneside's on-going Housing Market Renewal programme, which is already acting as a catalyst for the wider regeneration of Gateshead.
"With increasing pressure on public sector finances, maximising our return from the Council's assets and securing greater levels of private sector finance may well prove essential. By joining forces with a private sector partner, our dependency on central government grants should reduce, providing us with greater freedom 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 partnerships to gain mutual benefit from developing inner city and other urban sites.
E N D S Contact: Iain Lynn, Communications, Gateshead Council (0191) 433 2072 E-mail: iainlynn@gateshead.gov.uk
June 16, 2009 13:21