Southdale has been awarded the £2m contract to develop 30 new homes on Castle Way at Grove Hill, by Erimus Housing, part of Fabrick Housing Group, following the granting of planning permission by Middlesbrough Council in December.
Southdale will work with local employment partners with the aim of recruiting local labour from the surrounding area, including the creation of a number of apprenticeship opportunities.
Links will also be built with schools and colleges across Teesside to help raise awareness of career opportunities in construction and development.
The two year project is led by a partnership of Erimus Housing, the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Middlesbrough Borough Council. Starting in February 2012, it will create a sustainable, vibrant neighbourhood with the introduction of new, high quality housing that has a balanced mix of tenures and types of properties.
The high profile regeneration programme has already seen the demolition of 340 homes on the site, with Southdale set to build 20 properties for affordable rent and a further 10 for outright sale, via the firm’s private developer division, Circa Homes.
The project will be built to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3, as well as being fully compliant with Lifetime Homes and Secure By Design standards to create a fully sustainable community, with improved socio-economic conditions for people living in Grove Hill
Southdale’s Regional Director, Paul Oldridge said: “We want to make a point of using this project as a way of boosting apprenticeship opportunities in the area and engaging with schools, colleges and universities. It is vital that we invest in the talent of the future, without whom we will one day find our sector suffering from a severe skills gap.”
Chris Smith, managing director of Erimus Housing added: “Southdale’s pledge to work within education and to open up apprenticeship opportunities in the area reinforces our faith that the company is an ideal choice for the regeneration of Grove Hill.”
Paul Oldridge concluded: “The scheme will further strengthen Southdale’s position in the North East region, where we are currently delivering more than £62million of affordable housing, plus other public and private sector contracts, in Darlington, Redcar, Durham, Middlesbrough and Consett.”
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
