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Housing is a key challenge in the city of Leeds, which is currently being addressed by the local council
through various different schemes.
The affordability of housing is a key issue in Leeds, where the average house price at £175,000 is
nearly 7 times higher than the average single income. In combination with a largely transient
population composed of students studying at the local university, up to 40% of areas such as
Burmantofts and Richmond Hill are owned by the private rent sector, leading to greater depravation
in the community as landlords have no obligation to renovate homes. In order to combat this, the
council has established a core strategy, in which 70,000 new homes will be built by 2028, with 1,128
affordable houses constructed per year. Although affordable housing has been specifically targeted
to fit the needs of the most deprived, the listed proportion is significantly little when considering the
expected 12-15% growth in population during this period. Moreover, as affordable housing is only a
20% reduction in the original house price, many people with low incomes may still be unable to buy
a house under the scheme. This will not affect students in any way, as they won’t be looking to buy a
house anyway. For the impact of students to be reduced, landlords must be provided an incentive,
or be controlled through legislation. This raises certain issues as to whether future generations will
truly adopt the scheme.
Empty housing is a key issue in Leeds, where over 3800 homes that are privately owned empty. With
over 24000 applicants on the Leeds Homes Register, empty homes are wasted and even worse, are a
source for illegal activities. They may also deprive the street and devalue house prices locally. In
order to tackle this effectively, the local council has set a target of reducing the number of empty
houses by 400 per year from 2017 until 2030, through collaboration with community organisations
such as Canopy, LATCH and GIPSIL. This scheme is sustainable to the extent that reducing empty
homes allows the provision of affordable housing, while socially reducing crime rates, and
economically increasing the value of houses from before. There is also a targeted location through
the Cardinal Green site, which has been transformed through this scheme. Despite the long
timespan, there are attempts being made to create an electronic platform that will allow disabled
applicants and housing officer to find the right property, an example of social integration. This is a
relatively more sustainable solution than by simply building more houses, as in terms of
environmental sustainability, fewer materials and less energy will be needed to renovate a home,
rather than building one.
Although there are certain issues in relation to whether there is enough consideration for future
patterns of growth, some solutions have wide reaching impacts, aptly supported with evidence, and
clear incorporation of social, economic and environmental factors.