Affordable Housing Plan

Leeds City Council has agreed an Affordable Housing Plan with concrete targets for solving the acute shortage of rented homes in the city, in response to Leeds Tenants Federation's Right to Rent campaign.

Leeds Tenants Federation's Right to Rent campaign lobbied elected members at a full meeting of the City Council in September. Members of the Right to Rent campaign called on councilors to take action to restore a balanced housing ladder in the city by facilitating the development of more affordable rented homes.

In November the Council's Executive Board agreed an affordable housing plan "Making the Housing Ladder Work" that sets out to tackle the housing crisis. The plan features the idea of a Special Purpose Vehicle, or council-owned company, which would take possession of housing land and transfer it to housing associations for new home building at less than market price. The plan is backed by an Affordable Housing Task Group that includes representatives from across Council departments and aims to get corporate agreement on the delivery of affordable homes in the city.

This has been the main demand of the Right to Rent Campaign which has highlighted the dwindling supply of social rented homes in the city, and the affordability gap for those in low paid employment..

Over three thousand residents have already signed the Right to Rent petition calling on Leeds City Council to make social rented housing a priority in its strategy for affordable homes in the city. The Right to Rent campaign has staged public events in the city centre, and at many neighbourhood centres, raising awareness about the lack of choice for people who need to find affordable rents in Leeds.