Homeless to 'recycle' empty homes

A radical scheme in which homeless people help refurbish empty properties and then move into them, is set to come to East Leeds in a partnership with East North East Homes Leeds.

The Canopy Housing Project sees volunteers working alongside those without a home to bring derelict properties back into use. The property is then rented out to the people who helped refurbish it.

In a partnership with East North East Homes Leeds, the Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) which operates council housing in the east of Leeds, Canopy is set to refurbish ten council properties in East Leeds that have sat empty for years.

Too expensive for the council to renovate, they will be refurbished and then tenanted out to the volunteers who renovate them, while remaining the property of the council.

There had been fears from local people and ward councillors that if the houses were sold off they would become the property of absentee private landlords.

Cllr Les Carter, executive board member for housing, said: “These properties would cost the council a small fortune to repair to a proper standard and, normally, we would seek to sell them and put the money back into social housing in the area.

“But thanks to this partnership with Canopy, these properties will be brought back into use for the benefit of local people while also reducing the number of people without a home.

“As well as providing affordable housing, this partnership helps strengthen the local community by housing people who will value and care for their home, because they helped refurbish it in the first place.”

Canopy Housing Project was established in Hyde Park in 1998 to tackle homelessness and derelict properties. It operates a refurbishment programme involving volunteers working alongside those without a home, to bring derelict properties back into use.

In the main the properties are sourced from Leeds City Council or Housing Associations on long leases and they are sub-let to households who participate in the renovation and who then become Canopy tenants when the renovations are complete. Canopy now have more than 30 properties on leases in the Burley Lodge and Beeston Hill areas of the city.

The organisation is coming to the end of its programme in south Leeds and is looking to expand its operations into the east of the city, working specifically with marginalised and vulnerable communities.

The ten properties are back-to-back or through terrace properties, rather than purpose-built council housing. Most of their surrounding properties are in private ownership or held by Registered Social Landlords.

All of the properties require substantial renovation work over and above the work required to meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard.

East North East Leeds Homes is also providing financial support for half the cost of materials and one of the properties has already been earmarked as a possible operational base for Canopy to use while volunteers and tenants work on the other properties.

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