Gateshead gets £1.8m funding for major housing development

Credit: Gateshead Council

Homes England has agreed a £1.8m funding deal with Gateshead Council to go towards a major housing development.

The £1.8m funding will support the development of Clasper Village, a 12 acre brownfield site to the west of Gateshead town centre which the council hopes can be used to broaden Gateshead’s range of housing.

The funding has been awarded through the government’s £450m Local Authority Accelerated Construction Programme.

Gateshead council’s chief executive, Sheena Ramsey, said: ‘Delivering the homes Gateshead needs is a crucial element of our plan to make the borough a place where everyone thrives.

‘We’re thrilled that this funding means work can move forward rapidly at our Clasper Village site to provide homes for hundreds of families.’

Gateshead Council has already invested significantly in the Clasper Village site, including funding the cost of the site’s demolition.

The funding provided from the LAAC grant will help the council to remediate the site and provide the necessary infrastructure to prepare it for 2, 3 and 4 bedroom family homes in addition to 2 bedroom apartments.

Other work the council has already performed nearby includes the extensive redevelopment of housing along the river at Dunston Staithes and significant investment in Gateshead Quays, which is now one of Tyneside’s biggest cultural destinations with over one million visitors a year.

Ramsey added: ‘Clasper Village’s £30m transformation will be a game-changer for the borough’s economy in terms of new homes, construction jobs and growth and is part of an ambitious programme of house building we have planned in Gateshead.

‘It’s fantastic to have the support of Homes England as we transform and invest in the borough.’

Homes England said that the funding will enable Gateshead Council to speed up its plans to prepare the site for development, bringing forward the construction of ‘much needed’ new homes in the area.