New council housing development in Whinmoor welcomes first tenants

A new Leeds City Council housing development built on the site of a former pub in Whinmoor has welcomed its first tenants.

Forming part of the authority’s housing growth programme which has seen over 600 new homes built across the city in the past six years, work has now started in earnest to begin handing over 22 two-bedroom properties located on the former home of the Whinmoor public house to council tenants. The pub had remained empty for a number of years and had featured on a city derelict list before it was demolished in 2014.

Constructed by Kier on behalf of the council, each of the properties are modern, fully insulated and feature solar panels to help ensure they are energy efficient for tenants. To inform the kitchen and bedroom choices at each of the properties, thoughts and feedback was gathered from residents and shoppers in the Whinmoor area. Capacity for a potential electric car charging point has also been made available at the new development.

In keeping with the community feel, a local youth group was also tasked with the difficult job of choosing a name for the housing development, which is set to be officially revealed next month.

One of the first tenants to receive keys to their new home constructed by Kier on behalf of the council from Cllr Debra Coupar, was Miss Suzanne Shaw. It is hoped that every property in the development will have welcomed tenants by the end of next month.

Councillor Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, said:

“We are working extremely hard with a range of partners to meet the significant housing challenge that exists in our city. It is great news therefore to see a scheme such as this one in Whinmoor which forms part of our extensive council housing building programme come to fruition, and it was a real privilege for me to be able to hand over the keys to Suzanne, who is one of our first tenants in the new properties.

“Through our council housing building programme we are determined to ensure that every home meets the highest possible standards for our tenants, and we have worked closely with Kier to ensure this is the case at this particular development.”

Notes to editors:

For images, please contact the Leeds City Council press office.