Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council has signed a pre-development agreement with Cityheart to examine plans for up to 1,000 homes across several town-centre sites.
The possible locations include land at Stockton Waterfront and the former Municipal Buildings. The council says the work could lead to a mixed-use neighbourhood combining waterfront apartments, affordable homes and commercial space, but no detailed scheme has yet been approved.
What the agreement does
The agreement begins a feasibility stage rather than construction. Council officers and Cityheart will spend the next 12 months working through residential-led options, the practical use of individual sites and how a wider programme might be funded and delivered.
If that work is successful, and Stockton Council's Cabinet agrees, the partners intend to move towards a full Development Agreement. That later step would allow detailed funding and delivery proposals to come forward. Planning applications, designs and a building timetable would still need to follow.
Sites around the town centre
One area already identified is land south of the new Stockton Waterfront urban park. The former Municipal Buildings are also named within the council's Town Centre Living programme, alongside other sites which have not yet been specified publicly.
The work sits within the Central Stockton and North Thornaby Blueprint, a 25-year plan launched in 2024 after with residents, businesses and local partners. The blueprint brings together housing, public space, commercial development and longer-term plans for neighbourhoods on both sides of the River Tees.
Stockton Waterfront urban park was completed this summer. The council regards the park as the first visible stage of the wider town-centre programme and believes new homes could bring more people within walking distance of shops, services, events and public spaces.
A longer programme
The latest agreement follows regional promotion of the Stockton plans earlier this year. In May, described a wider 110-hectare regeneration vision including thousands of homes, commercial space and a proposed Care and Health Innovation Zone. It also referred to a opportunity for up to 1,000 town-centre homes.
Cityheart development director James Litherland said the aimed to create mixed-tenure communities and bring more residents into central Stockton. His statement referred to more than 1,000 homes over the life of the partnership, while the council's formal announcement describes an aspiration for up to 1,000. The eventual number will depend on the feasibility work and later approvals.
The project is being supported through a delivery partnership between Stockton Council and Tees Valley Combined Authority. No value for the pre-development agreement or overall housing programme was published with the announcement.
What happens next
The next year is expected to focus on feasibility rather than building work. The council has not yet published a tenure breakdown, site-by-site totals, designs, planning applications or a construction start date.
That distinction matters for residents following the changes around Stockton Waterfront. The agreement gives the council and Cityheart a formal route to develop proposals, but the homes remain an ambition until the , funding, Cabinet decisions and planning process are completed.