A consortium led by Karbon Homes, plus Thirteen Group, are part of a major housebuilding initiative announced by the Government
Housing associations and a council in the North East are to deliver thousands of new homes in the region after securing multimillion-pound Government funding.
Northumberland housing group Karbon Homes has led a consortium that also involves believe housing, Bernicia, Durham Aged Miners Homes Association and Livin to deliver 2,533 homes with Government funding of £350m. And Middlesbrough’s Thirteen Group has received £349.2m to build 2,750 new properties.
The funding is part of a national programme worth almost £10bn announced by the Government following Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s pledge to have the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period. Newcastle City Council is one of three local authorities in England to get direct funding, securing £141.4m to build 966 houses in the city.
Sarah Robson, executive director of development and asset management at Karbon Homes, said: “Alongside meeting customer needs and strengthening local communities, working collaboratively will also enable us to strengthen procurement, share expertise and support the development of a more resilient construction supply chain.
“We’re delighted to receive the maximum available allocation for our partnership bid which reflects our track record and ambition. Although we recognise the financial constraints the Government is operating within, this first wave of funding is critical to ensure we can continue to deliver the much-needed affordable homes our region needs, and we hope further funding will follow in due course.”
Thirteen Group will build properties in the North East, the Tees Valley, and in Yorkshire and Humber.
Chief executive Matt Forrest said: “This is fantastic news for Thirteen and the communities we serve, and will enable us to build thousands more social and affordable new homes over the next 10 years. These homes are very much needed – our new builds attract more than 200 applications each and we really need to close that gap between supply and demand as quickly as possible.
“Developing is in our DNA at Thirteen and securing this funding – the largest sum we’ve ever been allocated – is a huge vote of confidence in our ability to deliver quality new homes at pace and scale. We have a long-established and successful partnership with Homes England and these homes will be in addition to the 1,763 we’re currently developing under the previous funding programme.”
John Johnston, chief executive of housing group Bernicia and chair of the North East Housing Partnership, said: “We very much welcome the announcement of £445m in funding to build 3,400 new social and affordable homes across the North East.
“The North East Housing Partnership is ready to mobilise and begin delivering these much-needed homes for people across the region to support the North East mayor’s Plan for Homes. And with over 50,000 people on housing waiting lists in our region, we know demand is huge, so we will continue to work alongside the mayor to develop the case for additional, long-term funding that matches our shared ambition for new homes and the housing need in the region.”










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