Council is building for a bright future with new affordable homes scheme

The council secured planning permission in October last year for a total of 82 houses and apartments on the site of a former school at Hough Top, in Swinnow, near Pudsey.

And, six months on, construction activity is proceeding at pace, with a new road layout already taking shape and good progress being made on car parking, substations and perimeter fencing.

The development – which is being delivered via Leeds’s Council Housing Growth Programme (CHGP) – will comprise 55 houses and 27 apartments, with a mix of one, two, three and four bedrooms.

The apartments will be located in a new three-storey building named Hough Top Court. The site’s roads, meanwhile, will be called Hough Common, Hough Fold and Hough Drive.

All 82 properties will be made available for affordable rent, an important consideration given the high level of demand for social housing in the wider Pudsey area.

The new homes will also be fitted with air source heat pumps, a sustainable heating solution that will help cut carbon emissions, tackle fuel poverty and support Leeds’s net zero ambitions.

Landscaping and tree-planting work will create attractive open space within the 2.5-hectare site, which has lain empty since the demolition of the former Hough Side High School buildings in 2021 and 2022.

The development is being delivered for the council by construction company Willmott Dixon, which is also conducting a wide-ranging programme of associated community-focused activity. To date, its team has run more than 30 apprentice training weeks, undertaken 50 hours of school engagement and carried out 80 hours of career mentoring for local people.

The bulk of the funding for the scheme – scheduled for completion late next year – is being provided by the council’s housing service via Right to Buy receipts and borrowing, with £1.64m of grant support coming from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Brownfield Housing Fund.

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

“The Hough Top scheme is an excellent example of how the council is working, with partners, to deliver good quality, energy efficient and affordable homes for the people of Leeds.

“The difference that a development like this can make to local families is huge, particularly in an area such as Pudsey where there are significant housing needs.

“Our aim is to ensure that communities right across Leeds can benefit in the same way and, while we know there is still much to do, the various schemes currently taking shape as part of our Council Housing Growth Programme are moving us ever closer to realising that ambition.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:

“Because of devolution, we’ve been able to invest almost £90m to help unlock over 5,000 new homes, including dozens of affordable and sustainable homes in Pudsey.

“Working with Leeds City Council, we’re taking decisive action to tackle the housing crisis and deliver the warm, high-quality homes that local families need, with lower rents and energy bills.

“Everyone is entitled to a safe and secure roof over their head, so we will work with central government to get the whole of West Yorkshire building, with new freedoms and funding to deliver thousands more homes and create a greener, more vibrant region.”

Chris Yates, Yorkshire director at Willmott Dixon, said:

“Our team of local housing experts bring a wealth of experience to Hough Top. We share Leeds City Council’s passion for creating employment opportunities for this community. In partnership with our local supply chain partners, we are committed to supporting local people through our dedicated Building Lives Academy skills programme, as well as continuing to work closely with local schools and colleges.”

More than 350 new homes have been built via the council’s CHGP since 2018. More than 420 homes have also been acquired as part of the programme, with these properties and the new-builds both playing a crucial role in efforts to ease local affordable housing pressures.

By increasing the number of appropriate properties available to tenants looking to downsize, the programme has also helped free up some homes that are best suited to larger families.

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.

Places where CHGP schemes are, like the one at Hough Top, currently under construction include Brooklands Avenue in Seacroft, the Ambertons area of Gipton and the former Middlecross Day Centre site in Armley.

ENDS