Housing and the Regional Spatial Strategy

Delivering sustainable communities was a key aim in the RSS and was fundamentally linked to the four objectives of the North East of England's Housing Strategy.

Designing sustainable communities

Sustainable communities are cohesive, mixed and socially inclusive with a sense of place and identity, and with opportunities for people to maximise their health and quality of life.

The design and layout of settlements influence, and are influenced by, the complex interrelationships of different land uses within sustainable communities.

These include reducing crime and the fear of crime, as well as easy access to locally provided jobs, facilities and services by alternative transportation to cars.

High quality design can also provide for a mix of housing size, type and tenure to meet changing needs without reinforcing social distinctions, and reduce fuel poverty and reliance on natural resources and energy.

Key objectives of the RSS

In the pursuit of delivering sustainable communities the main objectives of the RSS were to:

• stabilise and then increase the region's population;
• focus housing development on previously developed land and buildings in sustainable locations within the conurbations and main settlements, housing market restructuring areas, towns in regeneration areas, and rural service centres;
• provide a more appropriate mix of type, size, tenure and affordability of decent, high quality homes by housing market restructuring and through additions to the region's housing stock;
• reduce the amount of vacant housing in the region to 3% by 2011;
• promote new developments where jobs, housing, key services and facilities are accessible by public transport and modes other than the car; and
• build to design standards that minimise the consumption of natural resources, both in construction and operation and contribute to stimulating local economies.

On 15 July 2008, the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) published the final version of the North East of England Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS). The RSS set out a broad development strategy for the region for the period up to 2021. It covered Northumberland; County Durham; Tyne and Wear and the Tees Valley.

Find out more about the Regional Spatial Strategy.