'Delight' after go-ahead for affordable homes

The homes will be built on vacant land off Harrogate Street and Amberley Street

A housing development which will see nearly a hundred affordable homes built on Wearside has been approved.

Sunderland councillors gave the go-ahead to the project by developers Thirteen Group Ltd, which will be located in the city's Hendon area.

Plans for 96 homes will see the redevelopment of land that has been vacant since the 1990s, and includes a mix of bungalows and houses.

Thirteen Group Ltd said it hoped to start work in the spring and would contribute nearly £260,000 to support local community projects.

'Right homes'

The scheme, which offers affordable rent, had been delayed after an original plan in May 2022 to build 103 modern 'modular buildings' was revised to provide ‘more traditional’ homes, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

These now include 21 two-bedroom bungalows, 41 two-bedroom houses, 28 three-bedroom houses and six larger four-bedroom houses.

At a meeting to approve the scheme council planners welcomed the proposals for 100% affordable housing, as well as the “significant contribution” the development would bring to the city.

Conservative councillor Michael Dixon said: “I’m highly delighted with the scheme. But it just does seem a shame that it has taken so long to get to this position."

Hendon ward member Ciaran Morrissey, Liberal Democrat, added: "It really is a fantastic piece of investment in the city. It’s the right homes in the right places."

The wider community is also set to benefit from money provided by the section 106 process, which allows councils to secure funds from developers towards community improvements, transport infrastructure and education.

This includes nearly £200,000 to “support education provision”, around £8,000 for” the provision of allotments” and around £53,485 towards “ecological mitigation and management measures”.