“Like living in a hotel”: £6m Sunderland residential development welcomes first tenants

Tenants are moving into their brand new homes in Sunderland following Bernicia’s completion of a £6m housing development on the site of a former primary school.

The mix of bungalows, two, three and four-bedroom homes have been allocated for rent to tackle demand in the city for high quality, new, affordable homes to rent. The properties in Cheshire Avenue are built on the site of the former Southwick Primary School.

The 37 homes are helping transform the lives of families and people from the local area, said to be providing a “high standard of living, the stability of a good home and at rents set to make them affordable” in the local rental market.

Laura Purvis, 32, has just moved into a four-bedroom home with her partner and young family. She commented: “It’s absolutely lovely, so quiet, so private. We got a phone call from Sunderland Council to tell us about the new builds and to wait to be contacted by Joanne at Bernicia.

“I cried when she told us we could have the house, I told her I loved her! Our family love it, there’s so much space, we don’t know what to do with all the space. It’s absolutely amazing, it feels like we are living in a hotel.”

Bernicia is committed to investing £85m into building at least 600 new homes over the next four years as part of its £210m investment into homes and communities in the North East.

Michael Farr, Bernicia executive director of Assets and Property, added: “Seeing residents move in and the life changing experience they have in their new homes is fantastic.

“The properties are all at rents that local people can afford - the quality of these homes and the energy efficiency, which is clearly such an important factor at the moment, has made demand for them very high.”

Councillor Kevin Johnston, Sunderland City Council Cabinet Member for Dynamic City, concluded: “It’s fantastic to see the residents moving into these new properties and the amazing transformation of this former brownfield site by Bernicia.

“It’s great to see what this means to families with young children and what it means to them moving into sustainable homes fit for purpose for the future in such a lovely area. As a council, we are continuing to work to deliver our City Plan for a more dynamic, healthy and vibrant Sunderland, and new and improved housing is very much part of this plan.”

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily