Wearside 'set for housing boom'

Investment in Sunderland has aided housing growth

Estate agents claim Wearside is on the verge of a housing market boom, similar to that in neighbouring Tyneside.

They say the extension of the Metro line into Sunderland has unlocked property hot spots and allowed more scope for growth on Wearside.

The housing market in Sunderland has been rising steadily for about three years but property experts say stock in the city centre is still undervalued.

This means there is affordable housing for first-time buyers.

Estate agents claim recent investments from urban regeneration company Sunderland Arc have led to more growth within the buy-to-let market than is expected by some in Newcastle.

Paul Airey, a chartered surveyor on Wearside, said many national investors see Sunderland as a suburb of Newcastle, particularly with its links via the Metro rail system.

He said: "In the city centre we have quite a cheap housing stock which is attracting the buy-to-let investor, particularly the single-storey Sunderland cottages which are prevalent throughout the central core of the city.

'International interest'

"We have a new multiplex cinema being built on the quayside and Sunderland Housing Group is converting many of the older period properties into superb-quality luxury apartments which I think will give anything in Newcastle a run for its money."

Mr Airey said the new hotspots in Sunderland include Ashbrooke and Thornhill, and the pockets around the Metro stations at Pallion, Millfield and Fulwell.

In spite of the Wearside boom, Newcastle still has plenty to offer, according to Duncan Young, a partner at Sanderson Young Estate Agents in Newcastle.

He said: "We just launched a bonded warehouse scheme down on the quayside and have sold 120 of 134 units in three weeks.

"The quayside has a tremendous amount of interest both nationally and internationally and we have a lot of people who want to live here."