Brownfield zones highlighted for 20,000 Leeds homes

Leeds brownfield sites have been identified to enable 20,000 new homes to be delivered in the city by 2028.

84 sites in the six separate zones have been highlighted for development, as Leeds City Council takes a “proactive role” in encouraging funders and developers to invest in city infrastructure.

City centre residential delivery has been slower to recover in recent years, but the city has now said that 10,000 homes are planned or could be developed in the city centre, including South Bank and Holbeck. A further 10,000 have been earmarked for delivery in the surrounding Hunslet Riverside, East Street Corridor, Northern Gateway and West End and Kirkstall Corridor,

The six identified key zones include the city centre core, which is capable of delivering nearly 2,000 homes; South Bank and Holbeck, supporting around 7,600 homes; Hunslet Riverside, 1,885 homes; East Street Corridor, 1,350 homes; The Northern Gateway, 2,707 homes and the West End and Kirkstall Corridor with 4,253 homes.

These include developers such as the £125m Climate Innovation District at Low Fold, which will offer 312 zero-carbon apartments, and mixed tenure communities, including local authority-owned housing such as East Bank (Saxton Gardens).

The authority is looking to work in partnership with the private sector with funding models including pump priming, patient investments and grant funding, as well as looking at ways it can underwrite risk.

Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, said: “Ensuring that Leeds has a vibrant city centre that everyone can benefit from is at the heart of the council’s plans. Key to that is attractive, thriving communities that people want to live in and delivering a wide variety of housing types and tenures to suit all life stages.

“Leeds has one of the fastest growing economies and workforces in the UK with 140,000 people working in the city centre alone. Transforming our brownfield sites into these attractive communities supports regeneration, continued economic growth and public services, helping to avoid the problems that some cities have faced of low levels of occupation of the city centre at weekends.

“We are taking a proactive approach to boosting housing delivery locally and providing an example of best practice nationally.”