Unknown brothel discovered along with 2,000 housing hazards, 1,300 police checks, and 660 waste warnings

Gateshead Council has reviewed its landlord licensing scheme for a Saltwell area known as The Avenues, which began in 2018 and ended in April this year. The area was contained side to side by Rectory Road and Alexandra Road, and top to bottom by Whitehall Road and Saltwell View. 

The area was identified in 2018 as in the top 30% deprived areas in the country, based on the multiple index of deprivation. Throughout the life of the scheme over 900 private properties were subject to a private landlord licence, designed to improve the standards of housing in the area. 

The scheme, in conjunction with Northumbria Police Operation Vienna, recorded: 

• Over 1,370 police checks on licence applicants, residents, and tenants
• 2,193 housing hazards (mainly cold, damp, mould, and fall hazards) removed
• The discovery of a brothel, where individuals were not accessing support.
• 660 written warnings issued due to poor household waste management

Data collected during the scheme also found a falling rate of anti-social behaviour incidents per 1,000 homes in the area, declining from around 150 in 2018/19 to under 100 in 2023/24. Burglaries in the same period also fell from around 16 per 1,000 homes to under 10. 

The report concludes: “Property standards have improved, but remain poorer than the average for Gateshead and are more likely to contain hazards than national averages. 

“The Avenues has experienced some positive outcomes, whilst the area still suffers from persistent ASB, with complaints and property turnover still higher than any other part of the borough, the gap between crime and ASB rates between the area and the rest of Gateshead has narrowed.”