£89m investment to help unlock 5,400 homes

A multi-million pound programme is supporting the delivery of thousands of new homes across West Yorkshire.

Speaking at the largest annual gathering of Northern social housing leaders in Leeds, regional Mayor Tracy Brabin pledged almost £90m by March next year to help unlock over 5,400 new homes.

The funding is being distributed to housing providers working across 28 sites in Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield.

Work is already in progress or completed on 16 projects, with work on the remaining 12 due to start before March 2025.

The developments on previously developed, disused “brownfield” land include:

• Saxton Lane in Leeds, which will deliver 204 affordable apartments
• Newport House in Wakefield, which has delivered 37 affordable apartments
• Cow Green in Calderdale, which will deliver 122 homes
• Manchester Road in Bradford, which will deliver 107 affordable homes
• Plane Street in Kirklees, which will deliver 30 homes

In her keynote address at the Northern Housing Consortium’s (NHC) summit, Brabin warned the funding was a “sticking plaster” over the region’s housing crisis, with over 80,000 households on waiting lists for a council home, and over 1,500 households living in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

However, she pointed to a landmark partnership with Homes England to boost the delivery of 38,000 homes on brownfield land, and the Deputy Prime Minister’s pledge to build 1.5 million new homes, including the biggest increase in social and affordable housing for a generation.

Tracy Brabin

Brabin added: “This is personal for me. Growing up in a safe and secure council flat was the foundation on which my life was built, and I want every child in West Yorkshire to have that start in life.

“It’s unacceptable that we have hundreds of children in temporary accommodation, doing their homework on the bathroom floors of hotel rooms, because working families have been priced out of having a roof over their head.

“We’re turning the tide with almost £90m to build 5,400 new homes on brownfield land, but we could unlock 38,000 more with the right freedoms and flexibilities from the Government.

“Working together with our dedicated housing partners and the Deputy Prime Minister, we’ll build a greener, more secure region with thousands more affordable and sustainable homes.”