Members from across the North East came together for the first Renew Regeneration Site Tour. This was hosted by the North East Housing Partnership, offering a valuable opportunity to see how housing-led regeneration is transforming communities while also highlighting delivery challenges. The tour forms part of our Renew inquiry, which is explores how regeneration can drive growth, tackle the housing crisis and strengthen communities across the North.
At Cleadon Park in South Shields, the visit demonstrated the long-term impact of sustained investment and strong partnership working. Once one of the most deprived areas in the country, the estate has been transformed by replacing more than 500 outdated homes with around 750 new properties. A strong focus on community engagement has been central to this success, helping to improve wellbeing, opportunity and pride in the area.
We also heard about plans for regeneration in Felling, to make sure the right homes are in place to complement other improvements to the town centre, including through Pride in Place funding. However, scheme viability is proving challenging, making it difficult to get much-needed new homes off the ground.
The final visits to Bensham and Saltwell showed how innovative partnerships are unlocking development, with new, high-quality homes bringing long-vacant sites back into use and supporting more inclusive, sustainable communities. Development of social housing, including homes specifically tailored for the area’s orthodox Jewish community, have acted as a catalyst for development of further new homes for private sale, which are in high demand. This shows the economic and social value of replacing homes that no longer meet the needs of communities.
Overall, the tour reinforced that housing-led regeneration can deliver lasting change, but greater support and investment will be critical to unlocking its full potential. We are conducting more tours across the North as part of our Renew work. To find out more visit the Renew website.
https://renew.northern-consortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/North-East-Renew-visit.png4801200Dan Ellwoodhttps://renew.northern-consortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Renew-by-NHC-logo-300x75.pngDan Ellwood2026-05-27 13:01:462026-05-27 13:02:44North East tour showcases regeneration opportunities and challenges
April has been a significant month for the Renew inquiry.
Lord Best, our Renew Advisory Group chair, the NHC’s Tracy Harrison and Patrick Murray and our Chair Charlie Norman went to Downing Street to brief No. 10 advisors about housing-led regeneration in the North. The group shared insight from our Renew inquiry about how housing-led regeneration can deliver growth, help tackle the housing crisis, and strengthen communities across the North.
This meeting was a fantastic opportunity to engage with key people at the heart of the Government and to put forward a case about why housing-led regeneration is an essential part of northern growth and the delivery of new homes, alongside improving existing homes and places. It was also great to get insight from the No. 10 team about current policy priorities and how our work can link in.
At the beginning of April we launched Perspectives on Regeneration, a series of think-pieces from the North’s leading voices on regeneration. The collection sets the context for the Renew inquiry looking at why regeneration is an essential part of tackling the housing crisis in the North.
The articles share examples of best practice and partnership working, as well as covering the importance of resident voice in regeneration. Some of the articles look beyond the social housing sector into the private rented sector, and at community-led initiatives. Inside Housing has supported the series as part of their month-long focus on regeneration publishing articles from our Chief Executive Tracy Harrison and Chair of Homes England Pat Ritchie.
We also brought together the Renew Advisory Group for their first face-to-face meeting in York to discuss initial findings from the Call for Evidence, with the interim report set to launch this summer. We received submissions from housing providers that own or manage 70 per cent of the North’s social housing.
The meeting was followed by a site visit to York Central, one of the UK’s largest brownfield regeneration schemes. The group heard from Homes England’s Leon Guyett about how the site will deliver over 2,500 homes and add in excess of £1.2bn to the local economy. Work is well underway on infrastructure, and the start of the first phase is in sight. The scheme will undoubtably bring massive benefits to the city, but there have been challenges along the way. The site was first identified around 20 years ago, yet only now is it close to becoming a reality.
Planning is underway for a series of visits with northern housing partnerships to member regeneration sites across the North. The tours will showcase sites at different stages of the regeneration journey and share lessons about what works well and barriers to successful delivery. They will help decision makers understand the real-life impact of current and future policy priorities on communities and social housing providers in the North. The NHC will capture learning from the visits and feed it into the Renew inquiry to develop policy and funding recommendations which support successful regeneration in the future.
https://renew.northern-consortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/NHC-no.10-visit.png4801200Dan Ellwoodhttps://renew.northern-consortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Renew-by-NHC-logo-300x75.pngDan Ellwood2026-05-12 09:16:362026-05-14 13:14:07Renew inquiry – meetings at the heart of Government and first publication now live!
Our Renew inquiry has launched a series of think-pieces from the North’s leading voices on regeneration. The collection sets the context for the Renew inquiry, looking at why regeneration is an essential part of tackling the housing crisis in the North.
The articles share examples of best practice and partnership working, as well as covering the importance of resident voice in regeneration. Some of the articles look beyond the social housing sector into the private rented sector, and at community-led initiatives.
Renew is an inquiry, led by the NHC and supported by Homes for the North and Muse, to explore how housing-led regeneration can deliver growth, help tackle the housing crisis, and strengthen communities across the North.
Publication of the ‘Perspectives on Regeneration’ follows the Renew Call for Evidence, which closed at the end of February. The response received from housing associations and local authorities who submitted evidence represents over 70% of the North’s social housing. The perspectives series aims to set the tone for Renew and encourage conversations, collaboration and debate about housing-led regeneration, while the Call for Evidence submissions are analysed.
Northern Housing Chief Executive Tracy Harrison said:
“I’m so grateful to everyone who has contributed to the perspectives on regeneration collection. It has been fantastic working with such a range of voices. This collection sets out what we want to achieve through Renew, the case for regeneration in the North, alongside some inspiring examples of people-centred housing-led regeneration. I hope the perspectives will definitively reset the narrative and change perceptions of regeneration.”
Chair of Homes for North Paul Fiddaman said:
“Housing-led regeneration has the potential to transform communities and turn ambition into real, longterm change for people and places. Our research has identified 80 strategic regeneration projects across the North that could deliver around 43,000 homes and unlock £5.2 billion in investment.
With the right investment — and partners pulling in the same direction — we can improve existing homes, deliver the new affordable housing the region needs, and build thriving communities across the North”
Managing Director of national placemaker Muse Phil Mayall said:
“Regeneration has a vital role to play in tackling the housing challenge across the North, not just by delivering new homes, but by strengthening existing communities and creating places where people want to live and stay.
“These perspectives highlight the importance of long-term partnership, local leadership and community voice in delivering lasting value for places, ensuring no one and nowhere is left behind.”
The perspectives series is available on the Renew website and includes the following articles:
Tracy explains how the Renew inquiry is an essential part of the NHC’s vision that everyone has a safe, warm home that’s affordable to them in a place they’re proud of.
Lord Best shares why he is chairing the Renew inquiry. He wants to make sure there is full recognition of the case for improving the lives of those living in highly unsatisfactory homes and environments – alongside developing new homes.
Ed challenges Renew to build a compelling case for housing-led regeneration by highlighting the social, economic and political benefits, learning from the past and identifying specific challenges in the North.
Paul shares Homes for the North’s findings about the need for and benefits of housing-led regeneration in the North. He discusses how regeneration complements development of new homes, and ways regeneration can be supported at scale.
Phil looks at the ingredients needed to make regeneration a success including partnership working and community trust built through delivering visible results.
Charlie and Nick believe that that devolution offers a massive opportunity. They argue a dedicated, locally administered funding pot for housing regeneration would be transformative. It would allow regions to target investment where it will have the greatest impact and drive long term regeneration
Andrew Cooper MP for sets out how housing-led regeneration gives Government the opportunity to connect national objectives – growth, opportunity, and fairness – with the everyday places where people live their lives.
Dr Michael shares learning from Liverpool’s Grove Street regeneration project. He says regeneration is about more than replacing old homes, it’s about renewing opportunity, restoring pride and building the conditions for long-term prosperity.
Cedric shares a different approach to regeneration talking about how Unity’s two main divisions, Unity Housing and Unity Enterprise, work together to provide a launchpad for people to transform their life chances.
Lara shares how a ‘Resident Power’ approach to the regeneration of Gleadless Valley has built trust and established an important community role in the future of the area.
Carla shares her views on issues in the private rented sector, and why the sector must be at front of mind when planning regeneration. Carla founded The Ethical Lettings Agency in Redcar in Teeside in 2015.
Paula sets out how East Marsh in Grimsby has been transformed by residents through a community-led movement.
The next steps for Renew include publication of an interim report in the summer, which will analyse responses to the Call for Evidence, and a series of tours visiting regeneration sites across the North.
To find out more about Renew and to read the perspectives visit the Renew website.
https://renew.northern-consortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Renew-Perspectives-NHC-banner-1-2048x563-1-1500x412-1.jpg4121500Dan Ellwoodhttps://renew.northern-consortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Renew-by-NHC-logo-300x75.pngDan Ellwood2026-05-12 09:14:092026-05-12 09:14:11Renewed perspectives on regeneration in the North
