£40m grant kick starts stalled new housing
HOUSING group Gentoo is in line to receive an investment of £40m to help it support a number of developments that have been hit by the recession.
The Sunderland company says it is confident of landing the cash, which will be put to immediate use by the group to deliver 515 affordable homes over the next 18 months, as part of a total £75m investment.
The new properties would include a mix of affordable rent and intermediate rent, with 170 being offered for sale, with developments at Southwick, Doxford Park, Chilton Moor, Racecourse and Castletown in Sunderland and the Clayport and New Row developments in Alnwick all earmarked.
The cash is being provided by the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) Kick Start scheme, which provides funding for housebuilding sites currently unable to proceed as a result of the recession.
The initiative has shortlisted 270 stalled development projects across the country that are now in line for a share of £925m worth of kickstart funding, which could help get building work on 22,400 homes back on track and create 20,000 jobs.
Ian Grant, managing director of Gentoo Homes, said: “This is very exciting news for Gentoo. We still have to make sure the schemes successfully get through the final appraisal, but I’m confident that the money will give us the ‘kick start’ we need for these projects.
“This will be a big challenge for us, however we are confident that we can deliver the homes on schedule and to our usual high standard.”
The not-for-profit organisation was formerly part of Sunderland Housing Group, which in 2007 was relaunched and set up five different divisions: Gentoo Sunderland, the original housing association; Gentoo Homes, a new-build homes division; Gentoo Living, a social investment and enterprise company; Gentoo Construction, a design and build company and Gentoo Ventures, a property management and development company.
Coun Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “We all recognise the scale of housing need here and across the country, and welcome this additional source of government funding as another stage in helping to address the situation on a local level.”
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