Leeds hits 40-year high for housing delivery

A total of 4,441 homes were built in the city during the 12 months to the end of March, Leeds’ highest level of delivery since the early 1980s and 35% above the local target rate for the year.

The headline figure covers all homes delivered, of all kinds. Leeds City Council said that more than 650 homes were classed as affordable, around 40% of which were delivered by the local authority itself – the city, along with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, having made housing a key priority in recent years.

Other schemes were brought forward thanks to partnership working between the council and housing associations, LCC said.

Leeds said it has ranked in the top four local authority areas in the country for the delivery of housing – affordable or otherwise – in each of the last five years, over which time it has delivered 1.5% of all new homes in England.

Should that record be replicated nationwide, said the council, the result would be 300,000 new homes each year – often thought of as a benchmark, this was the national target as set out in the 2019 Conservative manifesto, and is described by Leeds as “within sight” of the 370,000-home goal declared by deputy prime minister Angela Rayner last month.

To provide some context, 2019-20 saw 243,000 homes delivered, a figure that dropped back to 212,000 in 2022-23.

Affordable housing schemes completed recently by the council include a development in Middleton that comprises Gascoigne House – a 60-apartment extra care facility – as well as 100 family homes and 16 wheelchair-accessible bungalows.

Work has also begun this year on 88 new homes in Seacroft and the Ambertons area of Gipton.

Housing association partners have a delivery programme that includes Stonewater’s 152 homes in Horsforth and Yorkshire Housing’s 146 homes in Bramhope.

More than 1,000 affordable homes are inked in for delivery over the next five years by housing associations such as Guinness, WDH, Clarion, 54North and L&G Affordable Homes.

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

“It is really pleasing to see such impressive housing development activity in the city. This is the result of strong investment from the private sector and excellent collaborative work by the council, housing associations and the third sector.

“Together we are using every tool at our disposal to deliver affordable homes for those households and families most in need.

“Despite these efforts, however, we still face significant challenges caused by ongoing increases in demand.

“It is essential, therefore, that we maintain our current momentum to ensure we provide the necessary supply, choice and quality of homes in the right locations as part of our continued regeneration and growth.”

Andy Wallhead, chair of the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership, a body representing 13 housing providers and two councils, said: “These figures show what can be achieved by working closely together.

“We’ve developed a close working relationship with Leeds City Council and the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and we’re delighted that more homes have been built over the last 12 months than at any other time since the early 1980s – including hundreds of affordable homes.”