Welcome to the latest news concerning RENEW North Staffordshire in the Knutton, Lower Milehouse and Cross Heath Area of Major Intervention (AMI)

AREA GIVEN A £7.5M KICK-START (DECEMBER 2009)

Above: Architectual Drawing of propsals for the first phase of the development of the Collins and Aikman site at Lower Milehouse Lane, Cross Heath.

In October 2009 it has been announced that Kier Ventures’ planned development of the site of the former GEC Factory (demolished in 2004) off Lower Milehouse Lane (the Collins & Aikman Site) has been given a multi-million pound cash boost. This followed their successful bid to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)’s Kickstart Programme, designed to stimulate stalled new housing projects around the country following the economic downturn, to create jobs and ensure enough homes are built during the recession.

More good news followed in November 2009 when Newcastle Borough gave planning permission for Kier to build 80 new homes, as part of the first phase of the development of the site, with 72 affordable to be owned by Aspire Housing. 32 of these will be intended for shared ownership, with the Borough agreeing to buy equity shares in the new units from its housing capital programme if they are not sold quickly. This would allow allowing Aspire to rent them out to suitable applicants to avoid any void properties. With planning permission now granted, work is expected to begin by March 2010, taking about a year to complete. Phase 2 will provide a further 130 homes, mainly for outright sale. All homes will be built to Eco Homes “Very Good” standard.

In Phase 1, the housing properties for rent and shared ownership will include:
22 x 2 bedroom bungalows
15 x 2 bedroom houses
21 x 3 bedroom houses
14 x 4 bedroom houses

Mark Roe, the Senior Development Manager at Aspire Housing was excited to publically announce the plans. All homes to be rented will be accessed through the nominations agreement with Newcastle Borough Council.

Shared ownership is available directly from Aspire Housing with indicative costs from:
£125,000 for a bungalow
£110,000 for a 2 bedroom house
£120,000 for a 3 bedroom house
£162,500 for a 4 bedroom house

Mark added that if people would like to register an interest in the shared ownership homes then please contact Parwin Khaliq on 01782 635200.

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KIER APPLIES FOR KICKSTART FUNDING FOR AMI (OCTOBER 2009)

Above: Aerial View taken in 2005 of the Collins & Aikman Site (acquired by English Partnerships), before clearance was started in Lower Milehouse and Mill Rise was built. The existing vacant Kier land can be seen below and adjacent to the brown site. (Photograph Courtesy of Homes and Communities Agency).

A bid for a total of £5m has been made for North Staffordshire, to act as a shot in the arm to have more homes built in the region. The Government is looking to inject up to £925 million into 270 projects nationwide, to create jobs and ensure enough homes are built during the recession. Developers of stalled projects have been invited to bid for funding under the Kickstart programme through the Homes and Communities Agency.

The government funding, the bid for which was announced at the end of July 2009, would provide nearly 300 homes in three developments in Leek, Norton and Lower Milehouse, between them.

The short-listed bidders will be subject to further assessment, and will have to prove they can start construction this year to get the money. Half the money will have to be repaid by the developers within five years, and only 18 per cent will be paid in non-repayable grants. More than one third of the funding will go to housing associations to help them manage new affordable housing.

Kier Ventures plans to build 211 homes on the Collins and Aikman site land off Lower Milehouse Lane, Cross Heath, Newcastle under Lyme, and has put in a bid for £4.1 million. The company had previous smaller plans for 91 homes blocked by Newcastle Borough Council in 2008.

George Shepherd, development surveyor at Kier, talking in July, stated, "When we applied for this funding it was needed to kick-start the project, and so it is very important that we get it."

Housing Minister John Healey said: "This programme will get stalled building work back on track. This is not a handout to developers. There are tough terms to this deal including repayment of loans within five years. I want to see builders back on these sites within weeks. So I will be calling on successful developers to pull out all the stops so construction can restart as quickly as possible."

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