Work begins on £9.3m ‘community led’ housing development
The Lord Mayor of Leeds laid the first stone on a pioneering £9.3m housing development which will provide more than 60 homes for people in the north-east of the city.
Councillor Eileen Taylor joined project partners at the Leopold Park scheme, which is a combined venture between Black and Minority Ethnic (BME)-led housing association Unity Homes & Enterprise and Chapeltown Cohousing (ChaCo).
The site used to be owned by Leeds City Council. Unity will build 30 one and two bed flats for clients over 55 at this location, while ChaCo will construct 29 houses and flats, a “common house” and provide space for four self-build units. The development is due for completion by March 2021.
Homes England, the Government’s housing agency, has allocated £1.4m in grant support for the scheme, as well as £1.34m through its Housing Infrastructure Fund. The remaining cash has been secured by a combination of private finance and savings from ChaCo stakeholders who will live in the properties once they are built.
Councillor Taylor said: “Unity has a long-standing reputation for providing first-class affordable homes for people across the city. Based in Chapeltown, they know the area and the needs of local residents incredibly well. They do an excellent job.”
She said she was “intrigued” by ChaCo’s role in delivering the area’s first cohousing scheme.
There are currently 19 cohousing communities in the country – including one in Bramley – having first appeared in the late 1990s. Cohousing is a means of bringing individuals and families together in groups to share common aims and activities whilst enjoying their own self-contained accommodation.
As well as their own private homes, everyone has the use of shared facilities in the “common house”, which includes washing machines, guest rooms for visiting relatives and a large kitchen and dining room where everyone can eat.
Bill Phelps, ChaCo Chair, said he was thrilled that construction work was getting underway. He said: “The seeds for ChaCo’s emergence were sown in 2010 when members of a small housing co-op invited friends living nearby to explore the idea of setting up a local cohousing scheme. Since then, we have been supported by many other Chapeltown residents who want to create a neighbourhood where co-operation and sharing are built in from the start.
“It is remarkable that we have now reached the development stage and, in less than two years, people will be living in their new homes.
“We are delighted to be able to demonstrate that community-led housing schemes are not restricted to wealthy parts of the country. They can be a viable proposition wherever residents come together to enhance their own neighbourhoods.”
Ali Akbor, Unity Homes & Enterprise Chief Executive, explained that the 30 one and two bed flats the association was building represented one of the most significant investments it had made in recent times.
He said: “It is always fulfilling to see new properties come out of the ground after years of planning. Our joint work with ChaCo has made this scheme all the more interesting and, in common with everyone who has helped us get to this point, I am full of positive expectation for what lies ahead.
“Unity is rightly focused on providing high quality affordable homes. But we are also driven by a desire to regenerate communities, create life opportunities and address inequalities within sustainable neighbourhoods. This scheme ticks all of those boxes and underscores that we are doing our job well.
Richard Panter, Homes England Area Manager, said: “This is a great example of collaboration and partnership working, both within Homes England and across sectors.
“Bringing together Leeds City Council, ChaCo and Unity with Homes England funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund and the Shared Ownership and Affordable Housing programme, this project will provide an innovative model for the future and, more importantly, high quality affordable homes.”
