Work poised to start on affordable extra care housing scheme in Leeds

Leeds City Council’s Middlecross development in Armley will be home to 65 high-quality, energy efficient and affordable apartments providing independent living opportunities for older people.

The three-storey complex – to be built on brownfield land between Armley Grove Place and Simpson Grove – will also have care facilities and communal spaces, including a 50-seat dining area.

It is anticipated that construction will get under way in March this year, with completion scheduled for early 2027.

The scheme – which is being delivered via Leeds’s Council Housing Growth Programme (CHGP) – will regenerate a two-acre site that has been unused following the demolition of Middlecross Day Centre in 2018.

Its transformation will also support Leeds’s net zero ambitions, with the apartments being built to energy efficient specifications and benefiting from high levels of insulation and the use of ground source heat pump technology. 

And, by making the new homes available for affordable rent, the council has underlined its commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of all local residents while tackling issues such as fuel poverty.

The bulk of the funding for the development is being provided by the council’s housing service via Right to Buy receipts and borrowing, with £1.3m of grant support due to come from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Brownfield Housing Fund.

The scheme is due to be delivered for the council by Morgan Sindall Construction and will benefit the wider community by creating employment, skills and apprenticeship opportunities.  

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

“We are committed to ensuring that Leeds is a city synonymous with safe, warm and good-quality homes, with the increased provision of affordable housing having a key role to play in that.

“It’s really encouraging news, therefore, that construction work on the Middlecross scheme is due to begin shortly.

“At a time when there is a well-documented shortage of affordable extra care housing in Leeds, this development will make a real difference to the lives of its residents.

“The start of construction will also be another notable milestone for our Council Housing Growth Programme, which is working – with the support of partners – to bring positive and lasting change to communities across Leeds.”

Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:

“Our investment in this new site in Leeds will help build more much-needed, high-quality homes.

“I believe that having a safe and secure place to live is a fundamental right, so it’s only right that we invest vital funds to deliver thousands of homes across West Yorkshire.

“Together with our partners like Leeds City Council, we’re dedicated to building a greener, more secure region for future generations.”

More than 350 new homes have been built via the council’s CHGP since 2018. More than 340 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.

Furthermore, they have – by increasing the number of appropriate properties available to tenants looking to downsize – helped free up some homes that are best suited to larger families.

The provision of additional social housing stock is seen as a vital way of driving inclusive growth and improving the population’s general health and wellbeing.

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.

The Middleton development includes Gascoigne House, an extra care scheme that won the best purpose-built accommodation prize at last week’s LABC Building Excellence Awards.

ENDS