Leeds Council unveils new strategy for affordable housing delivery over next decade

Leeds City Councillors have approved a 10-year strategy designed to boost the delivery of affordable housing in the city.

A previous Leeds City Council action plan for housing growth achieved significant results between 2022 and 2025, with nearly 1,900 affordable homes, many for social rent, delivered locally during that three-year period.

Now the council has unveiled its Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy (LAHS) 2026-2036, which aims to build on the progress made through a combination of innovative thinking, collaborative working and the effective leveraging of investment, with a target of delivering up to 1,500 affordable homes a year by 2036 through the council and its partners.

The strategy outlines a series of steps the council can take, including:

• The continued use of the council’s own resources – including Right to Buy receipts – to build or acquire affordable homes through its Council Housing Growth Programme (CHGP)
• Capitalising on the opportunities offered by recently-launched funding sources, such as the government’s £39billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, to accelerate the delivery of new affordable housing
• Ensuring that the new Leeds Local Plan includes a flexible and responsive suite of policies that can boost affordable housing growth
• Supporting registered providers through grant funding and the ringfencing of council land assets as they look to scale up their own delivery programmes
• Working with public and private sector partners to ensure that future mixed-use city centre neighbourhoods incorporate as much affordable housing as possible.

The new strategy also includes details of schemes – some still under development – which highlight the progress made during the period covered by the Leeds Affordable Housing Growth Partnership Action Plan 2022–2025. They include:

• Throstle Rec in Middleton, where 176 affordable homes, including a 60-apartment extra care facility, were built through the CHGP
• Leonora House, a 58-apartment, £12million social rent scheme, developed by the 54North Homes housing association with grant support from the council, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) and central government’s Homes England agency.
• Colliers Park, a Leeds Federated Housing Association scheme, backed with £2.8million of grant funding from the council, to replace 1940s ‘prefab’ homes in the Sugar Hill Close area of Oulton with affordable new builds
• Registered provider-led schemes, including Points Cross (The Guinness Partnership), Saxton Heights (Vico Homes) and Dyecoats (Latimer by Clarion Housing Group) which, when complete, will collectively deliver hundreds of affordable homes

Of the nearly 1,900 affordable homes delivered in Leeds between 2022 and 2025, around 25% were directly built or acquired by the council.

Just under 40% were delivered by registered providers and third sector partners while a further 35% were facilitated via planning process funding agreements between private developers and the council.

Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said: “Meeting the housing needs of people in Leeds is at the heart of the council’s mission to tackle inequality, build thriving communities and provide opportunities that work for everyone.”

“We are determined, therefore, to use every tool at our disposal to deliver – either directly or through partnership working – good-quality affordable homes across the city.”

“The results achieved in recent years have been really impressive – particularly given the viability challenges that affordable schemes can face – but we are fully aware that there is still much to do.”

“The vision set out in the Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy shows how the council, in collaboration with partners, can continue to move forward over the next decade and deliver even more of the kind of homes that will have a transformational impact on people’s lives.”

Rachael Dennis, chair of the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership, said: “This new Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy gives us a clear and ambitious route for delivering more affordable homes across Leeds. It also shows that the city is open for business and committed to meeting housing need at scale.”

“The council’s approach to partnership working is central to this. By working closely with housing associations and developers, Leeds is unlocking sites, removing barriers and bringing forward high-quality, energy efficient and affordable homes that give families the stability and security they need.”

“It’s also why we see Leeds as a place where we can scale up delivery. The ambition set out in the strategy provides the certainty and confidence our members need to invest in the city and accelerate the delivery of affordable homes over the next decade.

Source: Showhouse