NECA has signed an agreement to form a long-term partnership with the government’s housing and regeneration agency to help unlock local housing development
The North East Combined Authority and Homes England have signed a strategic place partnership that will support the region to turn brownfield sites into new housing developments.
Homes England has said that the agreement will deepen existing local-national partnership working between the North East Combined Authority (NECA), local authorities in the North-east and the agency.
The housing and regeneration body is already providing funding and expertise for projects including Forth Yards in Newcastle and West Park in Sunderland.
Homes England announced its purchase of Quayside West, the largest land parcel in Forth Yards back in February.
NECA was formed on 7 May, bringing together County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside, and Sunderland, into one mayoral combined authority, with Kim McGuinness as the elected mayor.
The newly-signed partnership with Homes England will enable NECA to draw on the agency’s expertise and resources, including land, legal powers and funding, all guided by a shared business plan aligned to local priorities.
Homes England has similar partnerships in place with other regional authorities including South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.
Mayor of NECA, Kim McGuinness, said: “Everyone in the North East deserves a place they are proud to call home, and that is why I have made housing a key plank of my plans as Mayor.”
McGuinness noted that NECA recently committed to investing £4.5m in regenerating Horden in East Durham.
She added that the strategic place partnership (SPP) with Homes England “will allow us to take some of our biggest brownfield sites and turn them from eyesores into the homes and communities people need”.
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“It’s an opportunity to turbocharge development across the region by working with the agency and our local authorities to create new homes that are affordable, energy efficient, and where people can thrive.”
Homes England chief executive, Peter Denton, said that an SPP “isn’t a ceremonial bit of paper”.
Denton added: “It signals a long-term commitment where regional and national teams work together for the benefit of communities, to achieve the visions of local leaders who understand what people local to the area want and need to thrive.”
Denton said that he and Homes England colleagues are looking forward to deepening ties with NECA to help accelerate progress.
He continued: “We are united by a passion to get things done in the right way, in the right places, to help ensure successful, sustainable regeneration and more affordable, quality home for thousands of people in the North East.”
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