Leeds outlines £20bn economic vision

Leeds City Council has unveiled a sweeping 10-year growth plan that could see more than 20,000 new homes delivered across six neighbourhoods, and will focus on accelerating the city’s economy by focusing on three high-growth sectors: financial and professional services, digital and technology, and health and healthtech.

Leeds currently accounts for around a quarter of West Yorkshire’s economic output and is home to the UK’s second largest cluster of financial services firms outside London.

The plan, part of the Leeds Economic Vision and Delivery Plan, also identifies Mabgate, Eastside & Hunslet Riverside, South Bank, Holbeck, West End Riverside, and the Innovation Arc as priority zones for large-scale regeneration.

Together, these neighbourhoods form a development belt around the city centre and are expected to drive both commercial and residential growth over the next decade.

The council estimates that the new strategy could attract billions of pounds of private-sector investment into emerging industries, supported by large-scale infrastructure and regeneration projects.

Among the flagship projects is  the £160m expansion of the Royal Armouries Museum and the Elland Road stadium expansion and regeneration, which has the potential to unlock billions in investment.

Aire Park is also highlighted, Vastint’s mixed-use scheme that will feature around 850 homes, 1m sq ft of office space, and an eight-acre public park, the largest new green space in the city centre for more than a century.

In nearby Holbeck, the long-awaited Temple Works redevelopment is set to transform the historic flax mill into a major cultural and innovation hub, tipped to house ‘British Library North.’

The future of that development is uncertain at the moment, after developer CEG entered into administration earlier this month.

The report also notes that the West End Riverside area will deliver major residential projects such as City Reach and The Tannery, adding an estimated 2,000 homes and new riverside public realm.

Meanwhile, Mabgate and Eastside & Hunslet Riverside are earmarked for dense, mid-rise housing and creative workspaces, while the Innovation Arc will focus on life sciences, healthtech and university-linked research facilities.

Supporting infrastructure forms a key part of the vision, including the proposed £2.5bn West Yorkshire Mass Transit system, which city leaders say will be essential to unlocking new housing sites and connecting residents to jobs.

Cllr James Lewis, leader of Leeds City Council, said the programme would “deliver sustainable, inclusive growth while shaping the next generation of Leeds’s built environment.”