Thomas Percy Drive will provide fifteen new three and four bedroom homes on the site of the former Thomas Percy School on Blakelaw Road, which was demolished after its pupils were relocated to St Paul’s School on South Road.
Planning permission was granted by Northumberland County Council last December for the redevelopment of the 2.3 acre site.
Newcastle-based Silverstone, a specialist firm of building surveyors and project managers, has appointed Gentoo Tolent Construction as main contractor and will now co-ordinate delivery of the project to ensure it is completed on time and within budget.
Louise Stewart, associate director at Silverstone Building Consultancy said: “We have been in discussions with Lindisfarne Homes regarding this project for some time now and we are delighted to see the development being brought forward. This will be our first project working with the developer and we are looking forward to seeing the scheme start to take shape on site over the next few months.”
Lindisfarne Homes, who build houses throughout Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, are also developing Beadnell Point, a development of forty ‘New England’ style holiday homes in the coastal village and Grovernor’s Garden a collection of one to four bedroom homes in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Nick Dawe, director of Lindisfarne Homes added: “We are delighted to announce the redevelopment of the Blakelaw Road site. Given the well documented shortage of new homes throughout the North East it is great news to have secured the go-ahead for this scheme. The new development will assist the County Council by providing much-needed sustainable, high quality homes for the Alnwick area and breathe new life into the disused site.”
Research from the national housing federation (NHF) published last year showed that in Northumberland, 2,320 houses were completed between 2011 to 2014, but the calculated four-year need was 3,566, leading to a shortfall of 1,246 or 34.9 per cent.
The new development has started on site this week and completion is expected in November 2016. Bradley Hall has been appointed to market the new homes through their Alnwick office.