Renew visited Hull and East Riding to explore how housing-led regeneration is transforming places, from modern sheltered accommodation and large-scale neighbourhood renewal to ambitious waterfront regeneration that will shape the future of the city. 

Hosted by the Hull and East Yorkshire Housing Partnership, the visit showcased a range of regeneration projects that demonstrate how investment in housing-led regeneration can support economic growth, strengthen communities and unlock the potential of underused sites. 

In his welcome, Patrick Murray, Executive Director (Policy and External Relations) at the NHC, highlighted the purpose of the Renew Inquiry: to explore how housing-led regeneration can help tackle the housing crisis, drive growth and ensure no community is left behind. 

The first stop was Moat Hill in Anlaby, part of East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s sheltered housing regeneration programme. Led by Holly Hastie, James Townend and Ashley Sykes, attendees heard how the Council is replacing an outdated 1970s sheltered housing scheme with a modern development designed around the needs of residents of different ages and needs. 

The new scheme will provide 34 accessible, energy-efficient apartments incorporating digital telecare technology, improved communal facilities and adaptable homes that support independent living. The project demonstrates how regeneration can improve housing quality while helping people remain connected to their communities and live independently for longer. 

The scheme has been approved within the council’s capital programme, with a total allocated budget of £12.7m. Funding for the development will be provided through a combination of rental income, commuted sums, and a contribution of £3.6m from Homes England Grant Funding. 

The tour then moved to the Amy Johnson development in West Hull, led by Tom Evans from Hull City Council. The redevelopment of the former school site has been a central part of the wider regeneration of the Newington and St Andrew’s area in West Hull, one of Hull’s most significant neighbourhood renewal programmes. 

Over two decades, the wider project has seen around 2,000 homes demolished, 2,000 existing homes refurbished and more than 1,425 new homes delivered. Working collaboratively, Hull City Council and Keepmoat Homes secured £8 million of gap funding to support delivery and unlock the wider regeneration of the area. Alongside new housing, the programme has generated significant economic benefits, creating jobs and apprenticeships for the local community while helping to change perceptions of the area through high-quality design and investment in public spaces. 

The final part of the visit focused on Hull’s waterfront, starting in the Fruit Market, where Aiden Lesser-Moor, Hull City Council showcased one of the UK’s most successful examples of urban waterfront regeneration. 

Once a neglected industrial area at the heart of Hull’s wholesale fruit and vegetable trade, the Fruit Market has been transformed into a vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood. Historic buildings have been restored and repurposed, while new homes, workspaces, independent businesses, cultural venues and high-quality public spaces have brought new life to the area. The project demonstrates how regeneration can build on local heritage, creating places where people want to live, work and spend time. 

Attendees also heard about plans for East Bank Urban Village from Raife Gale, Muse, a major residential-led regeneration scheme that represents the next phase of Hull’s transformation. Delivered through a partnership between Hull City Council and ECF (a partnership between Muse, Legal and General, and L&Q), East Bank is expected to provide up to 850 new homes alongside commercial space, public realm improvements, community facilities and green infrastructure. 

Located on a prominent brownfield waterfront site, the development will reconnect underused land with the city centre and surrounding regeneration areas, creating a new mixed-use neighbourhood that reflects Hull’s maritime heritage while meeting future housing and sustainability needs. The scheme also demonstrates the importance of long-term partnerships and investment in delivering complex regeneration projects at scale. 

The visit brought to life many of the themes identified through the Renew Inquiry, including the opportunities around brownfield regeneration, neighbourhood renewal and the growth of town and city centres. It also highlighted the importance of partnership working, patient investment and resident engagement in delivering successful regeneration. 

Patrick Murray, Executive Director (Policy and External Relations) at the NHC said: 

“Throughout the tour, the role of the local authority, public sector, and social housing came through as the critical piece of the puzzle in derisking places in which the private sector would not invest. Through taking the first step, social housing and councils can change the market conditions and create new demand and unlock future phases and attract private investment.

Fundamentally the vision and ambition of local leaders has been underpinned with a can-do attitude and a clear-eyed understanding of how regeneration requires long-term certainty, and an ability to lever in whatever help can be mustered to make schemes stack up. At times, Government ambition has met the test, at other times it hasn’t. But the faith never wavered and Hull and East Yorkshire is better for it.” 

Thank you to the Hull and East Yorkshire Housing Partnership, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council, Muse and everyone involved in hosting a valuable day that will help inform the Renew Inquiry’s work on housing-led regeneration for northern growth. 

Joined by our Chair, Lord Best, #Renew visited Scarborough, a regeneration priority for the North Yorkshire Council, designated the country’s first coastal Mayoral Development Zone by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, and part of the Government’s Pride in Place programme. 

Nick Atkin, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Housing and Chair, York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, talked about the work of the Yorkshire and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, and the launch of their Affordable Homes Standard in 2025, a pioneering approach setting clear expectations for the quality and design of homes delivered through planning agreements with developers. Developed with housing providers, local authorities, and the Combined Authority, it covers energy efficiency, space, accessibility and long-term performance, helping ensure homes are built to a consistent standard and avoid future retrofit issues. The standard has been extended to cover the quality standard for all social and affordable rented homes across the region. 

Nick made the point that coastal and rural housing is the Cinderella of regeneration, behind the beauty masks a whole set of deep-rooted issues as well as opportunities… and when the vision and the funding come together you can really make a difference.  

Led by Helen Jackson and Hannah Heinemann, we saw various sites including Scarborough Train Station gateway, the Stephen Joseph Theatre, and former Brunswick Shopping Centre. Through investment in the public realm and funding from the Pride in Place programme, a ‘Station to the Shore’ corridor will be created mixing leisure and hospitality that will encourage more people to live, work, and spend time in the town centre.   

We then moved onto Eastborough, highlighting Scarborough Old Town. The group discussed a variety of issues, from the impact of holiday lets to anti-social behaviour and the PRS. At Beyond Housing’s East Mount Flats, Richard Cooper, Head of Asset Management, Beyond Housing talked about the viability challenges around the cost of remedial works needed for buildings that are in high demand.   

Travelling to near-by Eastfield, the group visited the Construction Skills Training Village, housed on an old farm site, which has made a huge impact providing education and training across sustainable methods of construction. The site has changed ownership and will be opening again in September, offering the only construction skills provision in the area. 

Attendees also saw Sandcastles, a Later Living development which formed part of the wider Eastfield regeneration investment plan, led by Teresa Snaith. The development consists of a mix of 2 and 3 bedroom bungalows, cottage apartments and a few two storey houses, all designed to promote a safe and secure environment and to create a sense of community for likeminded people wishing to live and age well in their retirement years. 

Thank you to the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, and the North Yorkshire Council for an interesting day that was incredibly valuable to the Renew Inquiry. 

“I want kids from this estate to look across the city and see a real, achievable future before them, a future that with investment in their roots, can give them hope to grow.”  

Lara Joyce, Secretary, Gleadless Valley Tenants and Residents Association (GVTARA). 

That’s what regeneration is about, the people and the community. This came through strongly in our Renew inquiry tour of Sheffield earlier this month. The tour was hosted by Great Places, Places for People, Sheffield City Council and Urban Splash who showed us around various regeneration sites and talked through the projects.  

We started the tour with the Gleadless Valley. The Vision for the Valley sets out a long-term plan to transform Gleadless Valley into a thriving neighbourhood with improved homes, local services, community facilities and green spaces. This part of the tour was led by Matthew Nimmo, Head of Project Delivery – Estates Regeneration, Sheffield City Council; Alexis Krachai, Independent Chair, Gleadless Valley Regeneration Board and Lara Joyce, Secretary, Gleadless Valley Tenant and Residents Association. 

Importantly, the vision is built on the principle of community power. “… local people are the true experts in their communities.” The GVTARA plays a central role in shaping the future of the Valley. 

Attendees visited the Gaunt Neighbourhood which is one of a network of local centres identified in the Vision as essential to day-to-day life, providing access to services, community facilities and social space within walking distance of homes. We also stopped at Herdings which is identified in the Vision as a priority for more comprehensive regeneration and investment to make a great family neighbourhood with a park at the heart.  

From this view point Lara talked about what can be seen by local residents including the Peak District, iconic sports grounds and two well-respected universities. Lara made the point that through meaningful regeneration, residents in areas in Gleadless Valley can look across the city and see a real, achievable future before them, a future that with investment in their roots, can give them hope to grow. (You can read her article about Gleadless Valley on the Perspectives page of the Renew website). 

Park Hill, the largest Grade II* listed building in Europe, is being transformed through a long-term regeneration programme led by Urban Splash. Great Places has been involved in the project since 2004 and delivered 94 affordable homes as part of Phase 1, which completed in 2013. Sian Stanhope, Development Manager, Urban Splash, Nick Cumberland, Director of Programmes and Business Development, Great Places and Nilam Buchanan, Managing Director- Central and North, Places for People, led this part of the tour.   

Established in the 2010’s, a joint venture between Urban Splash and Places for People has delivered 455 homes, alongside student accommodation and commercial space. The regeneration has focused on building a diverse and inclusive community through a mix of housing, workspaces, public spaces and shared amenities. Great Places remains involved in Park Hill and is currently delivering 30 affordable homes as part of Phase 4. What Park Hill demonstrates is that, with the right vision and investment, historic buildings can be renewed and repurposed without the need to demolish them entirely. 

 Our Executive Director (Policy & External Relations), Patrick Murray said: 

 “On this tour we saw the power of community-led regeneration. But also, what struck me across both Gleadless Valley and Park Hill was the powerful original vision of the innovative architecture of the places and how, yes regeneration does sometimes mean replacing out-of-date buildings, but it also sometimes can mean careful re-use, creating great places and homes out of the assets that are already there and in doing so bringing new life into communities. 

It’s not easy, and Park Hill is at the end of that journey while Gleadless is just beginning but with the dogged determination of those involved it is possible. There’s no doubt we can make it all much, much easier to do though with the right policy framework.”
 

Earlier in the day, the South Yorkshire Housing Partnership meeting took place at South Yorkshire Housing Association’s head offices.  

Thank you to everyone who took part in the tour, the Renew Report can be downloaded here.

Our Renew Advisory Group met to review activity so far, including the launch of Unlocking over 500,000 good quality homes in the North, and what the project should prioritise to maintain momentum. 

Following the meeting, the group visited city centre brownfield developments on the South Bank in Leeds, which has been earmarked as a new town, and Sugarhill in Oulton where 70 prefabricated Airey homes have been replaced by 70 new homes. 

The first stop on the tour was Citu’s Climate Innovation District, which has transformed a central brownfield site in Leeds into a green neighbourhood with 516 low-energy homes, alongside new amenities.  There are no cars on the development, although underground parking is available.  This means Citu have been able to tear up the conventional suburban streetscape, with drives and fenced gardens, instead focusing on shared communal green spaces.  

The homes are manufactured at the Citu Factory on site and are made from timber and lower-carbon materials. They are much quicker to build than traditionally constructed homes, and they have a significantly lower carbon footprint. Yorkshire Housing is working closely with Citu, and has partnered on delivery of social rent homes on the development, meaning people on lower incomes can live in homes with much lower bills. Citu and Yorkshire Housing also share the UK’s first zero carbon office – the location for the advisory group meeting.  

Next up was Sugar Hill in Oulton, where we met John and Cindy Readman of the ‘Save our Homes’ group, who led a high profile campaign against a private landlord selling off the post-war Airey homes on the site. In 2022 Leeds Fedarated took on the development. They weren’t able to promise to save the homes, as they had already exceeded their intended lifespan. Leeds Federated proposed a development of 70 modern, sustainable homes with a mix of properties for social rent and shared ownership. They worked closely with residents, giving existing residents priority on the new homes, and rebuilding trust which the old landlord had broken. 

John and Cindy recently moved back into a new modern home and have been helping create a community on the estate, bringing together new and existing residents. The Save our Homes group didn’t save the Airey prefabs, but they were able to save the community, and make sure residents had better homes to live in.   

Leeds City Council’s Mark Mills   presented plans for their new Mayoral Development Zone, a partnership of Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authorities and Homes England, which will see development of 20,000 new homes in Leeds. The group walked through the South Bank area. The area has already seen some redevelopment, but this should be accelerated though the new town programme. Lorna Hebden from Leeds City Council highlighted about viability challenges on brownfield sites and the need for public subsidiary. She also talked about the challenges of getting the right balance between commercial and residential properties.  

It was an informative day which will feed valuable lessons into Renew. Thank you to Nick Atkin and Yorkshire Housing for hosting and to Matthew Walker and Leeds Federated, and Leeds City Council for sharing their experiences.  

A Westminster Hall debate on estate regeneration was called by Luke Murphy, MP for Basingstoke. It triggered a lively discussion with broad consensus on the benefits of estate regeneration and the need to make sure it is done with residents rather than to them.  

Chair of our Renew Westminster Group, Andrew Cooper MP spoke as part of the debate referencing findings from the recent Renew report ‘Unlocking 500,000 good quality homes in the North’  

Northern Housing Consortium Chief Executive Tracy Harrison said:  

“Housing-led regeneration is central to tackling the housing crisis in the North, so we were pleased to see the Westminster Hall debate on estate regeneration. Andy Burnham MP is making regeneration a priority, so it is great to see the issue is gaining the political momentum it deserves. Regeneration is a key issue for the NHC, our members, and communities across the North.  

“Chair of our Renew Westminster Group, Andrew Cooper MP, referenced our Renew inquiry, supported by Homes for North and Muse, during the debate. Mr Cooper highlighted that without significant intervention, 100,000 social homes in the North could be lost over the coming decade. He also spoke about the far-reaching benefits of housing-led regeneration, and the need for regeneration to be delivered with communities.  

 “However, as Mr Cooper said, the challenge now is to turn ambition into delivery. Our Renew report shows that this cannot be done at the scale needed without support from Government to make estate regeneration in the North stack up. This includes long-term, devolved regeneration funding; a stronger national focus to enable local delivery, and support to build local capacity and expertise. Our policy recommendations are about ensuring that regeneration is viable and achievable across the North, which has diverse needs and challenges beyond our cities.” 

 “As was highlighted in the debate, the need to do regeneration with communities is also coming across strongly in the work of our inquiry. Our site visits are showing how crucial residents are in developing and delivering regeneration that makes a difference to people’s lives in communities across the North.” 

The NHC’s Renew inquiry into housing-led regeneration for northern growth is calling for greater Government support to boost supply of new homes in the North, kickstart economic growth and create thriving communities.  

Headline policy recommendations include:  

Long-term devolved regeneration funding  

• A £500m per year, 10-year Place Based Regeneration Fund for Mayoral Strategic Authorities. 
• Increase the term of the National Housing Delivery Fund to 10 years to unlock more sites with higher upfront costs. 

A national framework to enable local delivery:  

• A Minister for Regeneration to drive cross-government coordination. 

Build local capacity and expertise:  

• Create a National Centre for Regeneration, based in the North, to rebuild capacity across the sector and lead research and innovation. 

Build trust with residents:  

• Agree a set of standards and rights with residents involved in regeneration.

A link to Parliament TV coverage of the debate is here and the Hansard transcript is here.  

 Below is a transcript of the debate contribution from Andrew Cooper MP:  

 It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) on securing this debate. I want to speak about the importance of housing-led regeneration. Done well, it transforms lives, rebuilds communities, unlocks economic growth and creates places where people want to live, work and raise families. Yet for many communities across the north, that aspiration remains out of reach. 

Too many families live in ageing homes that are expensive to maintain, difficult to modernise and increasingly unfit for today’s needs. In many neighbourhoods, outdated layouts and ageing infrastructure no longer meet the needs of the communities they serve. Without significant intervention, 100,000 social homes could be lost over the coming decade, further reducing the supply of affordable housing. It is against that backdrop that the interim findings of the Renew inquiry are so important—I declare my interest as chair of the Westminster group for the inquiry. 

Led by the Northern Housing Consortium, the inquiry highlights the vital role that regeneration can play in addressing housing needs, supporting economic development and strengthening communities across the north of England. The Renew report found that more than half a million good-quality homes could be unlocked through regeneration and renewal programmes, demonstrating the scale of the opportunity before us. The report highlights the transformative impact that regeneration can have on people and places. Beyond increasing housing supply, it offers an opportunity to create healthier, more sustainable communities, to reduce energy costs for residents, and to improve the overall quality of life in neighbourhoods that have experienced years of under-investment. 

Importantly, regeneration delivers benefits that extend far beyond housing alone. Investment in homes can help attract investment in infrastructure, town centres and local services. It creates jobs, supports skills development and gives communities greater confidence in their future.  

 The impact therefore reaches well beyond the development site itself, generating wider social value and helping to create vibrant, sustainable places. However, successful regeneration cannot simply be done to communities; it must be delivered with communities. Residents should be at the heart of regeneration plans, helping to shape the future of the places they call home. 

 A good example can be found in the Gleadless Valley regeneration project in Sheffield. Residents’ involvement has shaped the vision for the valley to include commercial and community space, improved parks, paths, and jobs and training for local residents. Lara Joyce, from the Gleadless Valley tenants and residents association, described the process as “making hope feel safe again”.  

That clearly demonstrates the importance of building trust with residents and ensuring local voices are heard throughout the process. 

What is particularly encouraging is the growing recognition that the success of regeneration should not be measured solely by the number of homes delivered. Its value can also be seen in a stronger local economy, improved wellbeing and a more resilient community. The challenge now is to turn that ambition into delivery. If we get regeneration right, we will not simply build more homes. We will rebuild neighbourhoods, revitalise businesses and restore pride in communities. That is why housing-led regeneration matters, and why it deserves our continued support.