Leeds City Council’s commitment to delivering high-quality, affordable housing is paying off through its Council Housing Growth Programme.
Over the past five years, the council has successfully built more than 400 new homes, providing modern, energy-efficient properties for tenants across the city. But construction is only part of the story. During the same period, the council has also acquired an additional 479 homes, including some newly built properties – from private owners and developers, significantly boosting the availability of council housing. This combined approach of building and buying is proving to be a winning formula, helping to meet the city’s growing demand for affordable homes while ensuring council tenants benefit from quality housing options.
Leeds City Council has added six newly built homes on Manston Lane, Cross Gates, to its housing stock as part of the Council Housing Growth Programme (CHGP). Developed by Yorkshire-based housebuilder Strata, the three-bedroom family properties will be offered at affordable rents to residents on the council’s housing register. The homes form part of Desire, a wider Strata development where the council previously acquired eight ‘off-the-shelf’ properties earlier this year. Those homes are already occupied by council tenants.
These latest acquisitions contribute to the 479 homes secured during the first five years of the CHGP. Spread across 32 wards, every property has been made available for affordable or social rent, providing much-needed housing opportunities for people across the city. The Council Housing Growth Programme is on track to achieve a major milestone, with the number of homes acquired expected to hit 500 by the end of this year.
Councillor Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing said:
“I’m proud of the difference that our Council Housing Growth Programme is making to lives and communities across Leeds. The building activity and acquisitions work undertaken by the programme has delivered hundreds of homes that are not only high quality but affordable as well.
“I was really pleased to have the opportunity earlier this week to visit the Manston Lane development, with our latest acquisitions there leaving me hugely impressed. These spacious, warm and welcoming homes have been built to exacting standards and will be great places for local families to live.
“Everyone involved with the programme deserves huge credit for the results they have achieved to date and their determination to keep on delivering in years to come.”
To date, the programme has been largely funded through the council’s housing service, using a combination of Right to Buy receipts and borrowing. This funding model will continue into phase two of the programme, which is scheduled to run from 2026 to 2031. As with the first phase, the next stage will see a mix of homes built directly by the council and others purchased from private owners and developers, ensuring a steady supply of affordable housing across the city.
Leeds City Council continues to deliver ambitious new-build schemes through its Council Housing Growth Programme (CHGP), transforming sites across the city into high-quality affordable housing. In Seacroft, a brownfield site on Brooklands Avenue has been redeveloped to provide 25 one-bedroom apartments alongside eight two- and three-bedroom family houses.
In Middleton, 176 new homes have been completed on the former Throstle Recreation Ground and Middleton Skills Centre site. The development also includes Gascoigne House, a 60-apartment extra care facility designed to support older residents and those with additional needs.
Further CHGP projects are progressing at locations including Hough Top in Swinnow and the former Middlecross Day Centre in Armley. Meanwhile, in the Ambertons area of Gipton, construction is ongoing at a site that has already delivered 16 homes, with a further 39 due for completion.
All new-build properties are offered at affordable rents to residents on the council’s housing register, ensuring communities across Leeds continue to benefit from modern, secure, and sustainable homes www.leedshomes.org.uk
