Government funding unlocks development of more than 600 new homes in Leeds

More than 600 new homes are set to be developed in Leeds following government approval for two schemes in the city.

Approval of more than £7m from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund has been confirmed to support the development of new housing at land to the east of Otley and at Roundhay Road in Chapeltown.

Together, the two schemes are capable of delivering 614 new homes in total, of which more than 200 will be affordable housing.

The bid for the funding was made by Leeds City Council working with the developers for each site.

At Roundhay Road, a partnership formed between Unity Housing Association and Chapeltown Co-housing (ChaCo) will benefit from a grant of £990k to build affordable apartments for over-55s alongside a new project led by local people to create a co-housing scheme along with self-build opportunities.

At Otley, developer Persimmon Homes is working with other landowners in bringing forward the critical infrastructure proposals for the site, which as a long-standing part of the city’s agreed planning strategy is allocated for the development of 550 new homes as well as a new primary school, employment uses and greenspace.

Funding of £6.3m will enable construction of the 1.5 kilometre East of Otley Relief Road that will, subject to planning permissions, allow housing development to start by providing an eastern bypass that will relieve traffic pressure on Otley town centre.

Councillor Richard Lewis, Leeds City Council executive member for regeneration, transport and planning, said: “These projects are different in many ways but demonstrate the breadth of our approach to delivering planned housing growth, whilst recognising the diversity of needs and aspirations across the whole district.

“We look forward to working with the government on finalising the details of these schemes in the months to come in keeping with our commitment to provide and support new housing and growth at sustainable levels and in the right way for all communities in the city to benefit from.”

Chair of ChaCo Bill Phelps said: “This is great news for Leeds, for Chapeltown and for community-led housing. We are delighted that the council has secured this grant approval, which helps make the site economically viable, and will support Chapeltown Co-housing in its ambitious plans to create affordable community-led homes.

“This has been a genuine collaboration between the council, ourselves and our partners Unity Housing. We now look forward to embarking on the next exciting phase, building out the project.”

Wayne Noteman, regeneration director at Unity Homes and Enterprise, also commented: “It’s been a long journey to get to this point we and Chapeltown Co-Housing (ChaCo) are almost ready to commence building a scheme, that when complete in late 2019, will leave a lasting legacy in the community.

“The homes will be built using a contemporary design and modern techniques to ensure they not only look good but are energy efficient and significantly reduce energy bills for residents. This development is a great example of how Leeds City Council, Homes England, Unity Homes and Enterprise, ChaCo and the local community have worked together to build much-needed new affordable homes.’’

Chris Hull, land director for Persimmon Homes West Yorkshire, concluded: “We’re delighted to hear the news that we’ve been successful in our joint bid to secure HIF Marginal Viability Funding for the highways infrastructure that will unlock the east of Otley site.

“We look forward to continuing our ongoing work with Leeds City Council to bring forward the construction of the relief road as well delivering much-needed housing in an area where homes are in high demand.”

The council is also awaiting the outcome of a further bid under the Housing Infrastructure Fund that could support the delivery of over 16,500 new homes across sites in the city centre.