Here's how new funding will be spent on Riverside housing development at Vaux site
The City Council has secured £680,000 to support the creation of infrastructure and utilities for the 133-home housing development on the former Vaux brewery site.
The new homes will offer panoramic views over the River Wear, as well as access to Riverside Park and shared spaces.
The development will comprise apartments, townhouses, and maisonettes, using modern methods of construction, renewable energy systems and smart technology to reduce the carbon footprint of the development, while “producing high quality, energy efficient properties in the beating heart of the city”.
Young people from the city’s newly-opened Housing & Innovation Construction Skills Academy (HICSA) will also support the developers building the homes.
The money has been secured from the UK Government’s Brownfield Land Release Fund (BLRF).
Included in the scheme will be a cluster of award-winning homes being delivered by Igloo Regeneration Ltd, that were selected as the best in the national Homes of 2030 design competition - which explored how homes will look and function in the future.
The competition, which was managed by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), encouraged the design of environmentally friendly homes that support people in leading independent, fulfilling lives.
Cllr Johnston added: “We’re thinking big in Sunderland. We don’t just want homes – we want the best homes. Homes that raise the bar and the Vaux Housing development is helping us to satisfy that ambition.
“For Sunderland to be building the homes of the future, designed by some of the industry’s brightest minds with support from local students from HICSA, is just another example of how we are breaking the mould when it comes to city planning and why Riverside Sunderland has been dubbed ‘the UK’s best place in progress.’
“And with more exciting developments under construction and in the pipeline, hopefully the best is still to come.”
The Council’s Riverside Sunderland masterplan aims to double the resident population of the city centre and create 10,000 new jobs.