Derelict site to accommodate affordable houses and flats
Work is to begin on a new scheme which will deliver 28 affordable homes in the Armley area of Leeds.
The properties will be built by 54North Homes – a subsidiary of the Karbon Homes Group – on a brownfield site on Wesley Road, using funding provided by Leeds City Council and Homes England.
The £5.1m development will comprise 26 houses and two flats – 22 of which will be available for social rent and six for shared ownership.
An emphasis on sustainability will see the homes being built with air source heat pumps to provide heating and hot water.
The homes have been designed by Brewster Bye Architects, the building contractor is Ashfield Projects (Yorkshire) Ltd and BWA has been appointed as the employers’ agent.
Up to £700,000 of the funding for the scheme will come from Leeds City Council. This money is being drawn from Leeds’s commuted sums funding stream, which supports affordable housing delivery using pooled financial contributions paid by developers as part of planning agreements.
All initial tenancies – and 60% of subsequent lets – will be offered to people on the council’s housing register.
Joanna Chambers, director of assets & growth at 54North Homes, said: “We are pleased to be beginning work on this development very shortly which forms part of our ambitious growth programme to build around 250 new homes over the next three years.
“In Leeds this includes a £12m scheme to build 58 new affordable homes on Railway Street near the city centre and 40 homes within the new Kirkstall Place development – all of which will help to address the acute need for more affordable housing in the city.
“Wesley Road will be a great looking scheme; it has been designed to be sympathetic to the surrounding area and I am excited to see the plans become reality.
“It benefits from excellent local transport links to the city centre and will be the first development where 54North Homes is installing air source heat pumps, marking an important step on our sustainability agenda.”
Councillor Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, added: “We’re determined to ensure Leeds is a place that people are proud to call home, and one key way we can achieve that aim is through schemes such as the one at Wesley Road.
“These new properties will be high quality and energy efficient – and it’s particularly pleasing that so many of them will be available for social rents.
“The scheme will also bring a derelict piece of land within an existing residential area back into use to create a vibrant neighbourhood, and provides a great example of the benefits of collaborative working between the council and partners.”
The development is supported by funding from Homes England, through the Karbon Homes Group’s Strategic Partnership with central government’s housing delivery agency.
The strategic partnership has provided Karbon with £165m in funding to deliver 2,200 new affordable homes across the North East and Yorkshire over the next few years.
