Work poised to start on council-backed housing scheme in Leeds

Work is set to begin on a new scheme that will deliver 28 affordable and sustainable homes in the Armley area of Leeds.

The properties will be built by 54North Homes on a brownfield site on Wesley Road, using funding provided by Leeds City Council and Homes England.

The £5.1m development will comprise 26 houses and two flats built to a high specification – 22 of which will be available for social rent and six for shared ownership.

An emphasis on sustainability will see the homes being built with air source heat pumps to provide heating and hot water. The scheme will also accommodate existing mature trees, along with individual gardens and open landscaped areas.

The homes have been designed by Brewster Bye Architects, the building contractor is Ashfield Projects (Yorkshire) Ltd and BWA has been appointed as the employers’ agent.

Up to £700,000 of the funding for the scheme will come from Leeds City Council. This money is being drawn from Leeds’s commuted sums funding stream, which supports affordable housing delivery using pooled financial contributions paid by developers as part of planning agreements.

All initial tenancies – and 60 per cent of subsequent lets – will be offered to people on the council’s housing register.

Joanna Chambers, director of assets and growth at 54North Homes, said:

“We are delighted to be beginning work on this development very shortly which forms part of our ambitious growth programme to build around 250 new homes over the next three years.

“In Leeds this includes a £12m scheme to build 58 new affordable homes on Railway Street near the city centre and 40 homes within the new Kirkstall Place development – all of which will help to address the acute need for more affordable housing in the city.

“Wesley Road will be a great looking scheme, it has been designed to be sympathetic to the surrounding area and I am excited to see the plans become reality. It benefits from excellent local transport links to the city centre and will be the first development where 54North Homes is installing air source heat pumps, marking an important step on our sustainability agenda.

“As well as being committed to building energy efficient new homes, 54North Homes is also undertaking work to adapt some of the older homes we own to ensure they are as healthy, energy efficient and affordable for customers to run as possible.”

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

“We’re determined to ensure Leeds is a place that people are proud to call home, and one key way we can achieve that aim is through schemes such as the one at Wesley Road.

“These new properties will be high quality and energy efficient – and it’s particularly pleasing that so many of them will be available for social rents.

“The scheme will also bring a derelict piece of land within an existing residential area back into use to create a vibrant neighbourhood, and provides a great example of the benefits of collaborative working between the council and partners.

“We have seen an annual average of 550 affordable homes delivered in the city in recent years, with the figure for each of the next three years expected to rise to around 750.

“This isn’t just about numbers, however – every home, including the ones that will shortly be taking shape at Wesley Road, represents happiness and a welcome feeling of security for the people living in them.”

The site for the scheme was formerly owned by the Diocese of Leeds and is located at the southern end of Wesley Road, near St Bartholomew’s Church.

Notes to editors:

54North Homes owns and manages over 3,500 homes throughout Yorkshire, from one-bedroom apartments to four-bedroom family houses. The organisation was formed in December 2022, through a merger between Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association and York Housing Association, and is a subsidiary of the Karbon Homes Group.

The Wesley Road development is supported by funding from Homes England, through the Karbon Homes Group’s strategic partnership with central government’s housing delivery agency. The strategic partnership has provided Karbon with £165m in funding to deliver 2,200 new affordable homes across the North East and Yorkshire over the next few years.

ENDS