Community set for update on affordable housing plans at former school site

Members of the public can get a new update next week on plans to build more than 100 affordable homes as part of the regeneration of a former Leeds school site.

Leeds City Council has long-standing ambitions for a section of the old Copperfields College site in Cross Green to be transformed through the provision of much-needed housing.

Now those ambitions are set to take a significant step forward, with a planning application for a scheme that would provide new homes and a new community sports pitch currently being prepared by the Incommunities housing association and the council.

If approved, the proposed scheme would see around 120 high quality, energy efficient and affordable homes being built by Incommunities and developer Keepmoat. The pitch would be delivered by the council as an enhanced replacement for an existing pitch on the land earmarked for the new housing.

Ahead of the submission of the planning application, a community drop-in consultation event is being held at St Hilda’s Church Hall, on Cross Green Lane, from 3pm to 6pm next Tuesday, March 24.

Attendees will be able to find out more about the proposed scheme and how it will help address housing needs in this part of the city. Representatives from the council, Incommunities and Keepmoat will be on hand to answer questions about the plans.

In line with the council’s commitment to tackling inequality and creating communities that work for everyone, 60 per cent of the new homes would be for social rent and 40 per cent for affordable rent.

The homes would be owned and managed by Incommunities, with all initial tenancies – and 60 per cent of subsequent lets – being offered to people on the council’s housing register.

Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said:

“We are proud of the work we have done and continue to do with partners to support the delivery of affordable housing in communities across Leeds.

“The plans for the former Copperfields College site underline our determination to build on our achievements to date and we would encourage as many people as possible to come along to the consultation event to learn more about the proposed scheme.”

Aimee Law, director of development and regeneration at Incommunities, said:

“Engaging with our customers and the local community is an important part of how we approach developments like this, and this event provides a valuable opportunity for people to learn more about the plans for the site and the affordable homes we propose to deliver.

“We believe this scheme will have a transformative impact on the area, providing much-needed homes for local people and supporting wider regeneration.” 

Sitting around a mile to the east of the city centre, the former Copperfields site covers a total of 10.3 hectares and is bounded by the A63, Cross Green Lane and Pontefract Lane. Copperfields College closed in 2004, with its former buildings being demolished around five years later.

A new school, the Co-op Academy Brierley, opened in 2024 on a central section of the site. Most of the rest of the land was allocated in 2017 for potential future housing use as part of a council planning framework called the Aire Valley Leeds Area Action Plan.

The 3.9-hectare section that has now been earmarked for the proposed new homes is currently owned by the council and sits to the south-west of the Co-op Academy Brierley.

Conscious of the need to explore all possible avenues for driving regeneration and inclusive growth, the council has provisionally agreed to sell this land to Incommunities following a bidding process that was ringfenced for registered providers of affordable housing.

The completion of the sale is conditional on the delivery of the replacement community sports pitch on a different section of the wider Copperfields site. The cost of delivering this new pitch – which would be owned by the council – would be covered by the capital receipt from the land sale.

Two other existing pitches on the wider site would be unaffected by the housing scheme.

Notes to editors:

Nearly 1,900 affordable homes were delivered in Leeds between 2022 and 2025, with a quarter being directly built or acquired by the council. Just under 40 per cent of the homes, meanwhile, were delivered by registered providers – such as housing associations – and third sector partners. A further 35 per cent were facilitated via planning process funding agreements between private developers and the council. Senior councillors last week approved a new 10-year strategy that will, it is hoped, see the city delivering 1,500 affordable homes each year by 2036. Further details on the Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy can be found here.

Incommunities owns and manages more than 22,650 homes across Yorkshire. In addition to providing services to residents, it invests in tenants' homes, builds new properties and plays an active role in sustaining local communities, such as supporting people into employment through skills training, work experience and apprenticeship programmes. For further information, visit www.incommunities.co.uk.

ENDS