The first council tenants have moved into a new affordable housing development at Hough Top in Swinnow, as Leeds City Council’s 82-home scheme reaches its first handover stage.
Seven houses on the former Hough Side High School site have now been completed and handed over. The remaining homes are still under construction, with the full development expected to finish this winter.
The scheme is being built to provide council homes for affordable rent in an area where housing demand remains high. When complete, it will include 55 houses and 27 apartments, with one, two, three and four-bedroom properties.
First households settle into completed homes
The initial handover means the development has moved from construction site to occupied housing, with families now beginning to settle into the first finished homes.
Leeds City Council said the project is intended to meet a range of local needs, from smaller homes to larger family properties. The council is delivering the development through its Council Housing Growth Programme, which has already built or acquired hundreds of homes across the city in recent years.
Councillor Peter Carlill, Leeds City Council’s executive member for transport and planning, said the authority was determined to deliver “good quality, energy efficient and affordable council housing” in communities across Leeds.
He said tenants were now moving into the first completed properties and that progress was continuing on the rest of the Hough Top site.
82 affordable homes on former school land
The Hough Top development is being built on land that had stood empty after the former Hough Side High School buildings were demolished in 2021 and 2022.
The completed scheme will contain 82 council homes in total. The mix of 55 houses and 27 apartments is designed to cover different household sizes, with the homes made available for affordable rent by council tenants.
Energy efficiency is also part of the build. The properties are expected to include individual air source heat pumps, a feature the council says should help tenants with household running costs at a time when energy bills remain a pressure for many families.
Around 4,500 square metres of public open space is also planned at the site. That gives the scheme a wider neighbourhood role beyond the new homes themselves, turning a previously vacant former school plot into housing and shared outdoor space.
Funding and wider community work
Most of the funding for the Hough Top scheme is coming from Leeds City Council’s housing service through Right to Buy receipts and borrowing. The project has also received £1.64 million from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s Brownfield Housing Fund.
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said new affordable homes were needed as households continued to face cost of living pressures. She said the work formed part of wider investment to accelerate housing delivery in Pudsey and across West Yorkshire.
The scheme’s lead contractor, Willmott Dixon, has also been running social value activity linked to the development. According to the council, this has so far included 125 apprentice training weeks, nearly 75 hours of school engagement and career mentoring for local people.
Chris Yates, Yorkshire director at Willmott Dixon, said handing over the first seven homes was a milestone for the families moving in and for the project team. He said the contractor was also focused on skills and employment opportunities through its Building Lives Academy programme and work with nearby schools and colleges.
Leeds housing programme continues across the city
Hough Top is one part of Leeds’s Council Housing Growth Programme, which has delivered several new-build council housing schemes in recent years.
Recent projects include 33 homes at Brooklands Avenue in Seacroft and a 55-home development in the Ambertons area of Gipton. In Middleton, 176 homes have been built on land previously occupied by Throstle Recreation Ground and Middleton Skills Centre, including the 60-apartment Gascoigne House extra care facility.
Another scheme is under construction at Middlecross in Armley, where 65 apartments are being built for affordable rent by people aged over 55 with care and support needs.
At Hough Top, work is now continuing on the remaining houses and apartments, with Leeds City Council expecting the full Swinnow development to be complete this winter.
Source: Leeds City Council
Source check Source trail
This report is based on Leeds City Council’s update on the Hough Top housing development and its stated delivery timetable.
- Confirmed the number of completed homes handed over to tenants.
- Checked the total scheme size, bedroom mix and affordable rent status.
- Verified the stated winter completion target and funding details.
- Matched named comments to the council, West Yorkshire mayor and contractor representatives...
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- Leeds City Council
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- Leeds
- Updated
- 2026-06-07 19:22
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