Shine a spotlight on Newcastle city centre and what’s revealed is a new wave of mixed use regeneration schemes which is revitalising the urban core, providing housing and enabling the city to expand outwards.

Schemes such as East Pilgrim Street, one of the most strategically important city centre regeneration areas in the north of England, Helix and Stephenson Quarter are key to driving Newcastle forward, each development with a different offering and space that complements rather than competes within the city.

A significant amount of marginalised space as far as modern retail needs go is located around Central Station. This presents another great opportunity to improve the city centre offer, with the potential to replicate the redevelopment at Birmingham New Street station, creating both the buzzing neighbourhood that today’s workforce wants and a platform for growth. 

Taking a forward-thinking and targeted approach to a mix of uses, including residential, in the city centre will have a positive impact on people choosing to live, work and play there. A number of sites are actively providing, or planning to deliver, homes but there’s significantly less Build to Rent (BTR) activity than in comparable regional cities. 

The limited level of BTR may in part be due to the relative affordability of housing in the suburbs of Tyneside. However, BTR provision is still an important part of the mix, and there is a growing pool of ‘lifestyle renters’ focused on flexible accommodation close to jobs and high quality amenities.

Newcastle stands to benefit from the North of Tyne devolution deal which brings it together with North Tyneside and Northumberland under a mayor, with an election taking place in May this year. The devolution deal will attract an additional £600 million of investment to the region over the next 30 years.  

In addition the powers devolved to the new combined authority will include land acquisition and disposal, and the ability to establish Mayoral Development Corporations to serve North of Tyne’s housing and regeneration ambitions. While it will have a voice at Westminster and some devolved powers, it is relatively ‘devo-light’ in comparison to other cities with many of the powers being retained by the Government. 

However, the devolution deal is a step in the right direction but continued hard work from both the private and public sector will be required to ensure Newcastle’s goals are achieved.

Further information

Read more: Newcastle: A north eastern powerhouse