Gresham: a 20-year story of a community failed – but is there now hope at last?

Gresham, a community in Middlesbrough on the doorstep of Teesside University, is paying the price of 20 years of neglect and broken promises. 

The community is scarred by derelict areas, neglected housing and wasteland after ambitious development plans failed almost two decades ago. 

However, with a new multi-million construction plan promised to begin next month, there may be hope at last that life can be breathed back into Gresham. 

So how was the area allowed to get this bad? 

In 2006, a major Labour Government scheme called New Deal for Communities planned to restore deprived areas in the UK. The plans for Gresham involved demolishing 1,500 homes and reinvesting to enhance the overall stock of terraced homes in the town.  

This initially caused outrage from the residents and a report from the Gazette at the time said that 96% of residents affected wanted refurbishment of the current houses – not demolition. 

For a long time, residents lived in uncertainty.  

However, plans to bulldoze and redevelop dozens of streets were dramatically scaled back. 

For several years the council had been buying up properties in preparation but in the end only half of the roughly 1,500 homes originally earmarked were demolished with no future plans put in place.  

This failure stemmed from the decline of traditional steel and shipbuilding industries in the region and resulted in a scarcity of jobs and a stagnant local economy.    

More recent events also had a role. In 2010, the coalition government pulled funding for the Housing Market Renewal (HMR) pathfinder programme, which left many areas – especially in the North – with half-completed demolition jobs and little money to clean up the mess.  

While the HMR programme was intended to attract a new breed of homeowners, what happened in Gresham is that private landlords took over. 

The effect of such fundamental changes in property ownership into the hands of private landlords has been dramatic with properties falling into neglect. 

So, is there hope at last?  

Announced at the end of last year, Gresham regeneration plans moved forward after a multi-million-pound injection.  

Plans for a transformational scheme to regenerate a key site in the heart of Middlesbrough from this spring have moved forward after new funding was approved.  

Middlesbrough Development Corporation (MDC) has agreed to provide a further £7m to breathe life into Gresham with the development of a new hotel alongside professional living and student accommodation.  

The approval by MDC board members takes the full amount of support to £11.5m and progresses plans for initial site works to begin in April, with construction forecast to start this summer.  

Long-time Gresham resident Margaret Phillips, 75, retired, remains sceptical of the new plans, having lived through previous failures.

“I’ve lived here for 57 years, and the area has been experiencing a continuous downfall for years,” she said. “I’ll only accept that change will happen when I see it for myself.” 

 

Ahmed Ali, 27, unemployed, said: “I’ve only lived here for a few months but as far as I can tell this area is in desperate need of improvements, I believe these new developments will bring about the much-needed change.” 

Today, Gresham is just across a main road from the shops and restaurants of Middlesbrough’s town centre, but it is an unwelcoming place and extremely poor with the 2021 Census data showing that 50% of people aged 16 and over are unemployed.  

The vocabulary of Gresham has been bleak for many years, with people having no hope for the future.  

Nina Arthur, 45, retail assistant, said: “I think people have accepted that this is norm. I’ve come to terms that Gresham will look like this forever.” 

The presence of 10 “For Sale” and “For Rent” signs in one street alone suggests a lack of stability, as many locals seem eager to leave this deteriorating area behind.  

While there are a few local businesses, including a market shop and salons, their existence is overshadowed by the growing problems.  

Litter is rampant, with glass, rubbish, and tiles littering the streets, creating an unwelcoming environment. The smell from overflowing bins further contributes to the area’s decline.  

As the area faces these continuous challenges, it is clear that urgent action is needed. 

According to the architects of the latest plans, the scheme will offer high-quality accommodation to attract and retain talent in the town, support the growth of Teesside University, and aid the regeneration of Middlesbrough by attracting up to 4,000 jobs. 

In the Middlesbrough Development Corporation Masterplan, Gresham will become a new mixed-use development for Middlesbrough, supporting the growth of the university and creating local facilities for the existing community.  

The development of the area is said in the plan to “bring back to life an existing underutilised part of the town, while acting as a catalyst for wider change in this area”. It is hoped Gresham will further draw the university into the town, “providing new state-of-the-art residential and teaching facilities and supporting infrastructure in a vibrant campus environment”.  

The work in the Gresham area is estimated to take up to 2 years.