Council Housing Growth Programme is building homes and changing lives

The report shows that a total of 788 affordable homes – all for rent by council tenants – have been built or acquired through the CHGP over the last five years.

A further 284 affordable homes – which are again being delivered by the CHGP for rent by council tenants – are currently under construction or in the process of being acquired, with Armley, Gipton and Swinnow among the communities where major new-build schemes are taking shape.

Another 156 homes have been identified for delivery as part of the programme’s five-year first phase but have yet to commence construction.

The report – due to be considered by Leeds City Council’s executive board at a meeting next Wednesday (June 18) – also details a number of sites that have been provisionally earmarked for the development of new housing during the second phase of the CHGP, which runs from 2026 to 2031.

The sites include the derelict Kingsdale Court flats in Seacroft, land at Acre Mount in Middleton and the former Osmondthorpe One Stop Centre.

Subject to the necessary feasibility, funding and planning approvals, schemes at these three locations alone could deliver more than 100 council homes.

Other places lined up for new housing as part of phase two of the programme include Ramshead Approach in Seacroft, Cartmell Drive in Halton Moor and land formerly occupied by the demolished Highways tower blocks in Killingbeck.

The vast majority of the funding for the completed CHGP homes – many of which are for social rent, the most affordable tenure – has been provided by the council’s housing service via Right to Buy receipts and borrowing.

Other key points contained in the report include:

• More than 400 of the 788 homes delivered by the programme to date were newly-built properties;
• The council’s new-build homes use low-carbon heating and other energy efficiency measures to support Leeds’s net zero ambitions while also helping tenants with the cost of living;
• CHGP schemes are, where appropriate, delivered through local contractors and supply chains, generating training and employment opportunities for people in Leeds.

The council has additionally, through the use of its land and ‘commuted sums’ funding resources, facilitated the building of around 400 homes by registered affordable housing providers such as housing associations.

This means that around 1,600 homes have either been completed, acquired, identified for delivery, facilitated or had construction begin during phase one of the CHGP.

The number of affordable homes delivered in Leeds over the last five years by all providers, meanwhile, is over 2,900 – more than in any other large city in the country outside London.

That same combination of council, registered provider and private sector activity is projected to deliver an average of 780 affordable homes in the city over each of the next three years.

The results achieved to date by the council's CHGP, notes the report, have come in spite of the challenging conditions faced by the construction market in recent times.

The report also acknowledges that “significant resource and investment” from central government and other partners will be required if the current momentum is to be maintained.

Councillor Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said:

“As a council, we are determined to use every tool at our disposal to ensure that people across Leeds are living in the kind of safe, warm and welcoming homes where they can flourish and feel secure.

“Key to this work is our Council Housing Growth Programme and the hundreds of affordable homes it has delivered – and is continuing to deliver – for the city.

“These homes are more than just numbers, they represent lives changed for the better and I’m proud of the success we have achieved to date. I’m also really pleased that, by making many of the homes available for social rent, we’ve been able to give a helping hand to those on lower incomes.

“We know there is still much to do, however, with the city continuing to face significant housing needs at a time when affordable homes are in particular demand.

“Our plans for phase two of the programme underline our commitment to meeting those needs by providing good-quality, energy-efficient and affordable housing that will in turn help build thriving, inclusive communities.”

Locations where new housing has recently been delivered by the CHGP include Barncroft Close in Seacroft and Scott Hall Drive in Chapel Allerton as well as a site in Middleton formerly occupied by Throstle Recreation Ground and Middleton Skills Centre.

In a sign of the council’s determination to ensure its schemes meet a range of needs, the Middleton development includes Gascoigne House – a 60-apartment extra care facility – as well as 100 family homes and 16 wheelchair-accessible bungalows.

The report being considered at next week’s executive board meeting is entitled ‘Council Housing Growth Programme Update and Phase 2 Proposals’ and can be found in full here.

Notes to editors:

The term ‘affordable housing’ refers to homes that are available for rent at below market value or low-cost ownership. When affordable housing is made available for rent, potential tenures include ‘affordable’ and ‘social’. Affordable rent is discounted by at least 20 per cent from the prevailing local market rate. Social rent is lower than affordable rent and set by a formula tied to local incomes, property size and property value.

The council’s commuted sums funding stream supports affordable housing delivery using pooled financial contributions paid by developers as part of planning agreements.

ENDS