Banks launches Kingston Village housebuilder search
With outline consent secured for 900 homes, the property group wants to work with a developer or developers to deliver homes and community infrastructure across 121 acres, north-west of Newcastle.
Banks Property, working with land agent youngsRPS, has taken the overall plan through planning.
The site was allocated for housing in the 2015 Newcastle & Gateshead core strategy and urban core plan, and is inked in for former agricultural land west of Brunton Lane, between Dinnington village and Kingston Park – it is also close to the Newcastle Great Park development being advanced by Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon.
County Durham-headquartered Banks has been working on refining the details of all aspects of the scheme, including the package of community benefits.
Now Banks and youngsRPS have formally begun the search for a housebuilder or housebuilders to work with – a shortlist will be drawn up in autumn.
The Kingston Village project includes the delivery of up to 135 affordable homes.
Alongside the 900 new homes, it will also feature a new primary school, a local shop and cafe, allotments, a village green and substantial amounts of public open space.
A network of public footpaths and cycle ways, including links to nearby communities, will be put in place, while Biodiversity Net Gain will be delivered through the project and significant improvements will be made to the local road network, public transport links and wildlife habitats.
Gillian Reed, senior development manager at the Banks Group, says: “Our vision is for Kingston Village to be an outstanding, vibrant community which will integrate successfully into the west of Newcastle and we’re excited to be taking this important step forward towards realising this vision.
“The new government has stressed the importance of increasing the UK’s supply of high-quality homes, both to ensure people have the housing options they need in the places they want to live and to support the wider UK economy’s future growth.
“Significant investment that will be made in this site will be part of achieving these important objectives and will also ensure the delivery a range of new community assets that will be central to the creation of an inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable new community.”
Graeme Bruce, managing director at youngsRPS, added: “This is the biggest open market tender exercise for a consented site around Newcastle that I can remember.
“We’ve already had substantive interest in the Kingston Village site from many of the UK’s best-known housebuilders, and we will work hard with the team at The Banks Group to ensure we identify the most suitable option for developing this landmark location.”
This is not the only large-scale project Banks is involved with. In June, it finalised the sale of 90 acres at Killingworth Moor to Bellway for a 539-home development within a strategic allocation of 2,000 homes and 42 acres of employment land.
The business has also just agreed a land deal after winning consent at appeal, with Torsion Care now on the path to delivering a care home at Mount Oswald, Durham, a location where housing and student accommodation has already been delivered.
