Renew advisory group dig deeper into regeneration in Leeds
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Bank in Leeds, which has been earmarked as a new town, and Sugarhill in Oulton where 70 prefabricated Airey homes have been replaced by 70 new homes.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 has 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 were 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.
