A new housing development in Armley is set to welcome its first residents.
The development of 27 houses and 23 apartments – all of which are being made available for affordable or social rent – has been taking shape on the former Tower Works factory site off Moorfield Road in Armley since the middle of last year.
The first five homes are now finished and ready for local residents to move in.
The development as a whole – which is being delivered by Yorkshire Housing and Termrim Construction with support from Leeds City Council and Homes England – is due for completion by the end of this year.
The new homes will range in size from one to four bedrooms and are being built to exacting energy efficiency standards, with features including solar panels. Each apartment will also benefit from smart hot water tanks that can – by ‘learning’ how much hot water people use and when – help reduce energy bills.
All initial tenancies – and 60 per cent of future lets – will go to people on the council’s housing register. Eighteen of the homes will be available for social rent, the most affordable tenure.
In addition to providing much-needed additional housing options, the scheme is also benefiting the Armley community by breathing new life into a site that stood vacant and derelict for a number of years following the demolition of the old Tower Works factory.
Councillor Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said: “Schemes like the one taking shape at Moorfield Road can have a transformative effect on people’s lives, so it’s really good news that its first homes have been completed and tenants can now start moving in.
“The development is a brilliant example of what can be achieved through partnership working, and also underlines our determination as a council to support the delivery of high-quality, energy efficient and affordable housing in areas across the city.
“I’m particularly pleased that so many of the homes at Moorfield Road will be available for social rent, which will give a helping hand to those on lower incomes.”
The council is committing an affordable housing grant of £750,000 to the Moorfield Road project.
Around 2,900 affordable homes have been delivered in Leeds over the last five years, more than in any other large city in the country outside London.
That figure includes 788 homes that were directly delivered by the council. It also includes around 400 homes that were built by registered providers such as housing associations but facilitated by the use of council land and funding.
A combination of council, registered provider and private sector activity, meanwhile, is projected to deliver an average of more than 800 affordable homes in the city over each of the next three years.
The term ‘affordable housing’ refers to homes that are available for rent at below market value or low-cost ownership. When affordable housing is made available for rent, potential tenures include ‘affordable’ and ‘social’. Affordable rent is discounted by at least 20 per cent from the prevailing local market rate. Social rent is lower than affordable rent and set by a formula tied to local incomes, property size and property value.
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