Sunderland Road was one of the earliest areas of Gateshead to get the demolition treatment. Rather than renovate houses were pulled down. Many residents lost out. Unable to re-mortgage through a variety of circumstances and having received less than the market value of their homes they ended up in rented property. Once the capital ran out they had to survive on benefits. Effectively moving people from self-sufficiency in the their own home to state dependency in one sweep.
The development at Sunderland Road has stopped. The credit crunch plus prices that start at six times average salary for Tyneside mean that these 2 and 3 bedroom "family homes" are been left empty. They replace 2 or 3 bedroom affordable terraced housing whose only problem was that it had been standing there for 100 years.
One of excuses for re-development was to reduce empty homes and offer more choice. Unfortunately the number of empty homes has increased due to developers building unaffordable property. Choice has been starkly reduced as the affordable terrace housing that people used to make their first rung on the housing ladder has now been removed.
If Gateshead Council wants to make things better it just doesn't seem to be working out that way. People really dont want a semi with a garden the size of a postage stamp if it means that the price is 6 times their income. That is why high density terrace housing in inner city areas is often the first affordable option.
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