£7.6m Sunderland housing scheme reaches completion, offering 56 “striking” new homes
Residents looking for a new home in Sunderland have a pick of 56 new houses as EQUANS has completed work on the Keelman Rise development on behalf of housing association Gentoo.
The £7.6m scheme played a key part in Gentoo’s regeneration of the site off Kidderminster Road, with the 48 homes and eight bungalows being the final phase of development at the Downhill project.
Work on the site, which looks out over the River Wear, was done with the existing community in mind. Disruption was kept to a minimum, and the EQUANS site team, joined by local volunteers and colleagues from Gentoo, conducted a number of litterpicks on the green space that backs on to the site to support the environment.

Louise Buckton, new build director at EQUANS, said: “It is great to see the full Keelman Rise development come together now that the site team has put the finishing touches on the last of the 56 new homes.
“All the homes are very visually striking, and hopefully appeal to future residents too, who can benefit from a modern, high-quality property which gives them the space to be able to spend many happy years living in their new home.”
Joanne Gordon, development director at Gentoo Group, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have completed work on our Keelman Rise development, the first in our major multi-million pound investment into creating a new era of affordable housing in Sunderland.
“The development has provided high-quality, modern homes for over one hundred Gentoo tenants and we’ve received brilliant feedback from those now living in these new homes and I look forward to working with EQUANS to deliver more vital affordable homes to the area over the coming year.”
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