Senior councillors have approved a new 10-year strategy aimed at driving affordable housing growth across Leeds.
The Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy 2026-2036 was signed off by the council’s executive board and sets out a long-term vision for meeting housing need through innovation, partnership working and investment. It builds on the success of the council’s previous housing growth action plan, under which almost 1,900 affordable homes were delivered in Leeds between 2022 and 2025. Many of those homes were for social rent, with around a quarter built or acquired directly by the council.
Just under 40 per cent of the homes delivered during that period came through registered providers and third sector partners, while a further 35 per cent were secured through planning agreements between private developers and the council. The new strategy says Leeds could be in a position by 2036 to deliver 1,500 affordable homes a year through the council and its partners.
While acknowledging that target is ambitious, the strategy outlines a series of steps intended to help make it achievable. These include continuing to use council resources, including Right to Buy receipts, to build or acquire homes through the Council Housing Growth Programme, making the most of funding streams such as the government’s Social and Affordable Homes Programme, and ensuring the new Leeds Local Plan contains flexible policies to support affordable housing delivery.
It also highlights support for housing associations and other registered providers through grant funding and the ringfencing of council land assets, as well as joint working with public and private sector partners to maximise affordable housing in future mixed-use neighbourhoods in and around the city centre.
Councillor Mary Harland, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing said:
“Meeting the housing needs of people in Leeds is at the heart of the council’s mission to tackle inequality, build thriving communities and provide opportunities that work for everyone.
“We are determined, therefore, to use every tool at our disposal to deliver – either directly or through partnership working – good-quality affordable homes across the city.
“The results achieved in recent years have been really impressive – particularly given the viability challenges that affordable schemes can face – but we are fully aware that there is still much to do.
“The vision set out in the Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy shows how the council, in collaboration with partners, can continue to move forward over the next decade and deliver even more of the kind of homes that will have a transformational impact on people’s lives.”
Among the schemes highlighted in the strategy is Throstle Rec in Middleton, where 176 affordable homes were delivered through the Council Housing Growth Programme, including the 60-apartment Gascoigne House extra care scheme.
Rachael Dennis, chair of the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership said:
“This new Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy gives us a clear and ambitious route for delivering more affordable homes across Leeds. It also shows that the city is open for business and committed to meeting housing need at scale.
“The council’s approach to partnership working is central to this. By working closely with housing associations and developers, Leeds is unlocking sites, removing barriers and bringing forward high-quality, energy efficient and affordable homes that give families the stability and security they need.
“It’s also why we see Leeds as a place where we can scale up delivery. The ambition set out in the strategy provides the certainty and confidence our members need to invest in the city and accelerate the delivery of affordable homes over the next decade.”
Other developments include Leonora House, a £12 million Railway Street scheme providing 58 flats for social rent through 54North Homes, and Colliers Park in Oulton, where Leeds Federated Housing Association is replacing 1940s prefab homes with affordable new-build properties. The strategy also points to developments at Points Cross, Saxton Heights and Dyecoats, which together are expected to deliver hundreds more affordable homes.
The council says its relationship with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority and Homes England will be key to unlocking further development over the next decade. It adds that the strategy has been shaped through consultation with partners including housing associations, private developers and the West Yorkshire Housing Partnership.
Affordable housing includes homes for rent below market rates as well as low-cost home ownership. Rental options include affordable rent, set at least 20 per cent below market levels, and social rent, which is lower and based on a formula linked to local incomes and property values.
Leeds Affordable Housing Strategy: A Decade of Growth and Choice (2026-36) www.democracy.leeds.gov.uk
