About the development
History of the estate
Airey homes
Sugar Hill Close and Wordsworth Drive in Oulton were originally built in the 1950s by the Coal Board - as part of a larger estate of Airey homes.
The homes are a type of prefabricated ‘non-traditional’ construction, developed by Leeds-based builder Sir Edwin Airey following the Second World War.
Today, many Airey homes do not meet modern housing standards and require intrusive remedial works to ensure they are structurally compliant with current building safety regulations.
Most of the original development was regenerated in the 1990s, providing modern and compliant new homes on Shelley Crescent and Oulton Drive, with the remaining 70 Airey homes on Sugar Hill Close and Wordsworth Drive being the last to be replaced.
Redevelopment plans
Planning approval
Sugar Hill Close and Wordsworth Drive were formerly owned by a private landlord that had obtained planning permission to redevelop the estate into new homes for market sale.
While planning was granted the previous owner decided to sell the estate to Leeds Federated Housing Association in September 2022. At Leeds Federated, we saw the opportunity to regenerate homes to provide much-needed, comfortable affordable housing.
By agreeing to provide a mix of homes for affordable rent and shared ownership homes (a part-rent, part-buy home ownership scheme) rather than market sale, we could progress the development and enable the ten residents currently living on the estate to move into the brand-new homes under the same agreement as their existing assured tenancy.
What will the new development look like?
In addition to changing the tenure to an entirely affordable scheme, since acquiring the scheme, we’ve also made a few minor design amends.
Now the completed development will feature a mix of two, three and four-bedroom homes and will be EPC-rated B.
Partners
Supported by funding from Homes England's Strategic Partnership with Accent Housing as part of the government's Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) 2021-26, the scheme has also been awarded a grant of £2.8m from Leeds City Council to increase the provision of affordable rented homes across the new scheme.
To oversee the redevelopment of Sugar Hill Close and Wordsworth Drive we've appointed Termrim Construction.
Termrim is an award-winning, privately-owned main contractor specialising in new build developments in the housing and care sectors. Founded in 1976 and with over 45 years’ experience, the team has a track record of successfully delivering design and build projects to high standards across Yorkshire and the North West.