North East housing providers unveil plan to build more than 15,000 homes over 10 years and accelerate regeneration

A group of 20 social landlords in the north east of England have unveiled a collective ambition to build at least 15,000 homes over the next decade. 

The North East Housing Partnership (NEHP) group this week published a prospectus, setting out ideas for how housing associations, councils and the combined authority can work together collaboratively to boost development, improve stock and speed up regeneration projects.

The NEHP is made up of 20 organisations, including housing associations and local authorities, which manage 217,000 homes collectively in the region.

Through the prospectus, titled ’Building Better Lives’, the providers said they will aim to maximise delivery beyond 15,000 affordable homes within 10 years by co-ordinating pipelines, aligning the group with the strategic place partnership signed by North East Combined Authority and Homes England in 2024 and with “opportunities presented by the Social and Affordable Homes Programme and the North East Combined Authority (NECA).”

NEHP is pledging to increase collaboration through aligning SAHP bids to NECA’s stated priorities and geographic focus including key regeneration locations.

It is also pledging to engage earlier on priority local authority sites and to deliver against local authority and Integrated Care Board (ICB) priorities to meet specialist housing need.

The NEHP says its members will look to increase efficiency to leverage delivery by streamlining processes and sharing learning on issues such as “section 106, modern methods of construction, procurement and specification to support future homes delivery and cost certainty”.

On regeneration, NEHP wants to accelerate delivery working with the NECA and Strategic Place Partnership. It said it wants to encourage a single strategic ‘housing delivery conversation’ between the NECA and NEHP “to align pipelines, funding routes and priorities” NEHP is proposing an “enhanced partnership” with NECA including a single forum bringing together leaders from the combined authority and NEHP and agreeing shared outcomes.

The prospectus also outlines measures to work together to collaborate on retrofit and warm homes and to work together on homelessness prevention and tenancy sustainment.

John Johnston, chair of NEHP and chief executive of Bernicia Homes, said: “By planning and investing together, across organisational and local authority boundaries, we can deliver more homes, improve the quality of existing homes and ensure housing investment drives wider economic and social progress.”