Extra care housing scheme is laying the foundations for independent living
Morgan Sindall Construction is under way on an extra care housing scheme that will open up new independent living opportunities for older people in Leeds.
Leeds City Council’s Middlecross development in Armley will provide a total of 65 high-quality and energy efficient apartments for affordable rent by people aged over 55 with care and support needs.
The homes will complement wider efforts to address a serious shortage of extra care housing in the city.
Part of Leeds’s Council Housing Growth Programme (CHGP), the scheme - which was procured via the SCAPE Construction framework - will also benefit the Armley community by breathing new life into a two-acre brownfield site that has lain empty for several years.
And, to mark the start of construction, the council’s executive member for housing, Councillor Jess Lennox, paid a visit to the site to meet some of the project team and see the early progress that has been made there.
Councillor Lennox was joined by representatives from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which has contributed £1.3m from its Brownfield Housing Fund towards the cost of the scheme.
A further £1.3m has been drawn from Leeds’s commuted sums funding stream, which supports affordable housing delivery using pooled financial contributions paid by developers as part of planning agreements.
The rest of the funding for the project – due for completion in 2027 – has come from the council’s housing service via Right to Buy receipts and borrowing.
The scheme’s three-storey apartment building has been designed to encourage everyday social interaction as well as independent living, with a restaurant, a hair salon and an open-plan lounge and coffee bar among the communal spaces that will be available to residents.
Sustainability and energy efficiency were also key design considerations and, as a result, the building will have high levels of ventilation and insulation while benefiting from features such as ground source heat pumps and roof-mounted solar panels.
The site for the scheme – which sits between Armley Grove Place and Simpson Grove – was occupied by Middlecross Day Centre until its demolition in 2018.
Ben Hall, Yorkshire area director for Morgan Sindall, said:
We are proud to be playing our part in creating high-quality extra care housing, enabling older people to enjoy later life.
It was a pleasure to welcome Councillor Lennox and other stakeholders to our work at Middlecross. We’re looking forward to delivering this much-needed new scheme. It will bring significant benefits for the Armley community, both through the completed building and our contribution to the local economy during the build programme.”
Councillor Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said:
It’s great news that construction work is now under way on this important scheme, which will help address the well-documented shortage of affordable extra care housing in Leeds.
The Middlecross development highlights the impact of our Council Housing Growth Programme and, by extension, our commitment to ensuring that everyone in Leeds can enjoy the stability and security that comes with a safe, warm and good-quality home.
I was really pleased to have the opportunity to visit the site in Armley with partners and see first-hand the progress being achieved by the construction team. All those involved should feel proud of the part they are playing in delivering a scheme that will make a positive difference to people’s lives and the community as a whole.”
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:
Because of devolution, we’ve been able to invest almost £90m to help unlock over 5,000 new homes, including dozens of affordable and sustainable homes in Armley.
Working with Leeds City Council, we’re taking decisive action to tackle the housing crisis and deliver the warm, high-quality homes that local families need, with lower rents and energy bills.
Everyone is entitled to a safe and secure roof over their head, so we will work with central government to get the whole of West Yorkshire building, with new freedoms and funding to deliver thousands more homes and create a greener, more vibrant region.”
The start of work on the Middlecross scheme follows the opening in 2023 of Gascoigne House, a much-praised extra care development in Middleton that also forms part of the CHGP.
Other locations where CHGP schemes are currently under construction include Hough Top near Pudsey, Brooklands Avenue in Seacroft and the Ambertons area of Gipton.
More than 350 new homes have been built via the CHGP since 2018. More than 420 homes have also been acquired as part of the programme, with these properties and the new-builds both playing a crucial role in efforts to ease local affordable housing pressures.
Furthermore, they have – by increasing the number of appropriate properties available to tenants looking to downsize – helped free up some homes that are best suited to larger families.
ENDS