New council houses and new jobs for east Leeds

The first spade-full of earth has been turned on a development that will see more than 60 new council homes built in east Leeds.

Sites at St Wilfrid’s Avenue and Easterly Mount in Gipton will see the creation of 63 new council homes – the biggest single number of new council homes for decades.

The scheme will provide 22 three-bedroom houses, 27 two-bedroom houses and 14 two-bedroom flats, all for rent. It is likely new tenants will be moving in during the summer next year.

The development is being led by the council’s regeneration service and is part of the major EASEL (East and South East Leeds) regeneration scheme.

The opening of work will be assisted by Peter Riaak, one of two local young apprentices who will be working on the site, showing that EASEL is supporting local jobs as well as providing new homes.

The EASEL project team was one of the first in the country to bid successfully into the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) scheme to help local authorities build social housing. This is also one of the first such schemes in the country to begin building work.

The £3.5million from the HCA’s Local Authority New Build funding matches a similar amount from Leeds City Council, helping EASEL fulfil its commitment to creating high quality mixed tenure housing.

Once completed, the homes will be managed by East North East Homes Leeds, the Arm’s Length Management Organisation that manages Leeds City Council properties in the east of Leeds.

Construction Leeds has supported the recruitment of Bellway Homes’ new apprentices by promoting the opportunities and coordinating the applications. Candidates were interviewed by Bellway Homes in mid-February with Peter Riaak and Linval Fearon, both Leeds College of Building trainees, becoming the successful apprentices.

Peter is an 18-year-old apprentice bricklayer who lives in Gipton, He’s into football and basketball and starts his Level II training in September. Linval comes from Harehills and is pleased to have the opportunity to move on from claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance, complete his level II joinery training and begin level III. At 24, Linval is a qualified community sports leader who volunteers at his local sports centre.

David Curtis, regional director of the Homes and Communities Agency said: “This start on site is excellent news for local residents who will be able to move into such high quality new homes.”

Councillor Les Carter, Leeds City Council’s executive board member for housing, said: “Being recognised as the first authority nationally to get started on site using Homes and Communities Agency funding for new council homes is a good result for Leeds City Council officers who have pulled out all the stops to make sure we can spend this money by the deadline.

“Having new apprentices shows the potential EASEL regeneration has for improving local employment figures, especially for young people.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the new homes let to council tenants next year.”

Paul Miller, Director of Bellway Homes, said: “We are really pleased with the partnership work that’s made it possible to get moving with this development, especially since it means we’ve been able to recruit new apprentices.

“Our site manager Bob and his team will be working even harder than usual to finish the work by next March.”

Site manager Bob Lyons said: “We’ve designed the building programme carefully so that neighbours can get back to normal quickly.

“Obviously the priority is to keep both residents and workers safe while building work carries on.

“So though we’ve had to close Easterly Mount to traffic, the walkway through the site is intended to allow people as much access as possible.

“We’ll put up posters with contact details for site management queries when we start, as part of our ‘Considerate Contractors’ scheme.”