4 December 2012
Newcastle City Council is the latest local authority in the North East to explore the potential of using self build as a way of delivering more housing.
The council has recently convened a meeting of local people keen on the idea of setting up a self build project, and it has also just received a planning application for 40 self build plots on a major development called Newcastle Great Park in Gosforth.
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It is also supporting a proposal by the Ouseburn Trust to convert a former factory in Lime Street into six ‘self finish’ live-work units (artist’s impression of proposal, pictured).
Council spokeswoman Maria Manion said around 45 people had attended the self build meeting in November, and a follow up workshop was now being planned for the New Year so that people can work out the best way to organize themselves.
Meanwhile mainstream housebuilder Persimmon Homes has just applied for planning permission for 40 self build serviced plots on the Newcastle Great Park development – a large urban extension to the north of the city centre. It is understood that Persimmon originally aimed to provide 20 plots, but the recent promotion of self build by the Government persuaded it to double the quota.
Plans to convert the former Canvas Works in Newcastle’s Lime Street into six live-work units are also gathering momentum, with a group of keen self builders now firming up, support promised from the Homes and Communities Agency, and detailed costs being worked out.
The Ouseburn Trust would like to see the six plots arranged in a terrace along Lime Street each supporting living and some working space; land behind the homes has the potential to become a common garden or growing space for the residents.
Trust Chair Sheila Spencer said: “These would provide an affordable option for people to realise their dream of living where they work. It would be one of the last pieces in the valley jigsaw for us. It has long been an ambition of ours to have a live-work scheme in the valley.”
The Trust is working with a wider European network called Creative Cities.
“One of the topics we have been working on with them is live-work schemes and how we can help the valley’s creative industries. The site is a one-off opportunity,” said Spencer. “A lot of accommodation around the edges of the valley is in blocks of flats and is expensive, and we are looking at something which is very different and adaptable. People could use the site for many different types of work or the homes could be big enough for families. There is a wide range of people with a passion for the Ouseburn Valley who want to live there.”
