WHITEHALL mandarins see the North-East as just a “splodge on the map”, a housing chief claimed today (Friday, November 21).

Jill Haley, chair of the Chartered Institute of Housing’s North East (CIHNE) regional board, accused the Government of pursuing a “one-size-fits-all” approach to the housing crisis.

Speaking at the CIHNE’s annual conference at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Durham City, Ms Haley said the region was facing a housing crisis which was different to that of the South-East but just as important.

The North-East’s crisis was about regeneration, a “mismatch” of properties and the struggling economy, she said.

Ms Haley, who is also chief executive of the Byker Community Trust, called for the North-East to have greater powers over housing, but admitted the region still had work to do on agreeing a joined up approach.

“It’s one-size-fits-all policy at the moment which is London-centric.

“Housing is greatly underestimated in terms of the local economy and the added value we bring.

“People think housing is just bricks and mortar. We’re not, we’re much more,” she said.

Ms Haley was speaking as, a few miles away, the first of 2,400 new homes was completed under a £350m regeneration scheme for Gateshead.

The four-bedroom house will be part of a 192-home estate to be known as The Sycamores, off Mount Pleasant Road, Birtley.