Govt approves funding for key Newcastle scheme

The government has approved a funding package for the accelerated regeneration of Quayside West at Forth Yards, Newcastle, with the capacity for around 1,100 homes.

Homes England has developed the £121.8 million investment package for the brownfield site, which will fund remediation, groundworks and infrastructure activity, tackling the “complex land issues” which have prevented the site from being realised, the government’s housing and regeneration agency said.

Homes England worked in partnership on the package with the North East Mayor and Combined Authority, Newcastle City Council and Network Rail.

The funding announcement follows the news that Forth Goods Yard, another parcel of land on the same site, is poised to be developed under the government’s initiative to transform surplus railway land into homes. This is through the creation of Platform4, a new property company.

Quayside West is one of the largest sections of land at the centre of Forth Yards, which, Homes England said, would be developed into a new, sustainable mixed-use neighbourhood next to Newcastle’s central station and Quayside, “giving the city a new, well connected western gateway”.

With funding approval confirmed, the government will appoint a private sector delivery partner, commencing the …