MORE than 780 jobs will be created in the North-East thanks to a £51m investment in new homes.

The Neet Partnership, which is behind the development, has pledged to use local contractors to develop 498 homes during the next two to three years.

A £29.2m funding package from The Housing Corporation will allow the houses to be built in 16 local authority areas, with the remaining finance being raised by the corporation.

The 16 areas are Darlington, Derwentside, Easington, Hambleton, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, South Tyneside, Stockton, Teesdale, Wear Valley, Newcastle, Alnwick, North Tyneside, Sedgefield, Allendale and Tynedale.

More than 200 houses will be built on Tyneside, more than 200 in the Darlington and Hartlepool areas and more than 70 in Tynedale. Thirty houses will also be demolished as part of the plans.

The four associations behind the Neet Partnership are the Newcastle and Whitley Housing Trust, Enterprise 5, Endeavour Housing, and Tynedale Housing.

The partnership is already involved in a number of regeneration projects in the region.

Peter Mole, chairman of the North East Housing forum and member of the NE Regional Housing Board, said: "This is excellent news for the North-East, where we are seeking to tackle both areas of low housing demand and others where affordable homes are in short supply."