Eleven NHS sites in the North East could be sold to build hundreds of homes and generate money for the health service, according to new data.
A document released by the NHS detailing its “surplus land” has set out the locations which could be sold to generate cash with the majority expected to be turned into housing.
The document, known as the NHS Surplus Land report, reveals eleven North East sites which have been sold in the past year, or could be sold by the health service in the next few years.
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NHS estimates suggest it could make a massive £17,160,638 from the sales of the 11 North East sites.
The health service made £382,500 from the sale of brownfield land at Morpeth Clinic, Gas House Lane, Morpeth in October last year (2021).
It made a further £275,000 from the sale of the Skelton Medical Centre building on Byland Road, Skelton, Saltburn just a month later.
Both sites have been sold with the plan of building a housing, with 10 homes set to be build on the Skelton site and a further 8 on the Morpeth site.
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Other locations earmarked for sale include the site of the old Walkergate Hospital on Benfield Road, Newcastle which closed in 2011.vNHS bosses estimate the sale of the site to build 72 homes could bring in £3.1million.
The Children's Hospital on Durham Road, Sunderland and land on Belle Vue Grove, Middlesbrough to the rear of James Cook University Hospital are also set for sale.
The document estimates that 321 homes could be built across the surplus sites, including 17 affordable homes.
The Surplus Land report identifies 490 plots of land across the country which it believes are surplus or potentially surplus to requirements, covering a land area of 627.21 hectares.
316 of these were declared as sensitive and so the NHS does not publish details of their locations, meaning there could be dozens more sites in the North East which could be sold.
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The NHS’s long-term plan says it “will improve the way it uses its land, buildings and equipment. This will mean we improve quality and productivity, energy efficiency and dispose of unnecessary land to enable reinvestment while supporting the government’s target to build new homes for NHS.”
The full list of sites potentially up for sale are:
- Skelton Medical Centre, Byland Road, Skelton, Saltburn-by-the-Sea TS12 2NN
- Morpeth Clinic, Gas House Lane, Morpeth, NE61 1SR
- Children's Centre, Children's Hospital, Durham Road, Sunderland, SR3 4AG
- Walkergate Hospital, Benfield Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 4QD
- Land adjacent University Hospital of Hartlepool, Holdforth Road, Hartlepool, TS24 9AH
- Land on the east side of Beckworth Head Road, Harrogate, HG3 1UE
- Land on Belle Vue Grove, Middlesbrough, TS4 2PX
- St Georges Park, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2NU
- Northgate Hospital - South Plot, Morpeth, NE61 3BP
- Walkergate Hospital West Plot, Benfield Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 4QD
- Vacant/empty building, Cartwright Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE3 3XT
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