Yorkshire Housing advances Leeds brownfield resi

The housing association’s contractor Termrim has started work on 50 homes off Moorfield Road in Armley, formerly occupied by the Tower Works factory.

The scheme is being delivered with support from Leeds City Council and Homes England.

Once complete, the development will comprise 27 houses and 23 apartments, all available for affordable or social rent.

By part-funding the work, Leeds City Council said it will help ensure the success of a project that aims to make a positive difference to the lives of people in an area with significant housing needs.

The scheme will also help efforts to boost the city’s overall supply of new affordable homes, which, after hitting record building levels in 2023, is now expected to rise by a further 750 this year, through work by housing associations and the council through its own direct delivery.

It is expected that the first homers off Moorfield Road, a site that had stood vacant and derelict for a number of years, will be ready for handover in February 2025.

All initial tenancies – and 60% of subsequent lets – will be offered to people on the council’s housing register. The new homes will have a mix of one, two, three and four bedrooms, and are being built to energy efficient specifications.

Eighteen will be available for social rent, with affordable rents due to be charged for the other 32.

Cllr Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said: “The delivery of new affordable housing is one of the cornerstones of our work to tackle inequality and improve quality of life for people in communities across Leeds.

“These new homes will address local housing needs in Armley and will also, thanks to their energy efficient design, support the council’s net zero ambitions.

“Furthermore, the scheme will align with wider regeneration activity, both in Armley and other parts of the city, by taking a piece of vacant, derelict land and making it a desirable and attractive place to live.”

Anthony Askew, head of construction at Yorkshire Housing, said: “We are committed to delivering a range of affordable homes across Yorkshire, especially in areas of high need such as Armley.

“With 100 per cent affordable housing, this brownfield development will provide the area with much-needed housing supply and an opportunity for people to move into high-quality homes.

“We have an aim of delivering 8,000 new affordable homes across Yorkshire to help ease the housing crisis and this site takes us closer to achieving that target.”

Council housing has become a hot topic since Labour’s landslide win at the General Election, with Sheffield and York among the cities keen to push the matter up the agenda.

Jason McGarvey, commercial director at Termrim Construction, said: “Following the completion of the enabling works phase at the old Tower Works site at Armley, we have made great progress with the installation of the new roads and sewers alongside foundations and retaining walls.

“Design and procurement for the superstructure elements has also progressed well with the superstructure masonry commencing imminently.

“As always, it is great to work with the Yorkshire Housing team on this important development delivering a mix of new affordable houses and apartments to the Yorkshire region.”

Up to £750,000 is being committed to the project by the council. This money will come from Leeds’s commuted sums funding stream, which supports affordable housing delivery using pooled financial contributions paid by developers as part of planning agreements.