Gascoigne House: ‘Flagship’ new extra care housing scheme in Middleton, Leeds, welcomes first residents

The flagship Gascoigne House scheme, on Middleton Park Avenue in Middleton, has 60 apartments for older people who need on-site care and support.

The new apartments, which have been made available for affordable rents, are complemented by a range of communal facilities and attractive outdoor spaces such as a courtyard and roof terrace.

The Gascoigne House scheme forms part of Leeds City Council’s multi-million pound redevelopment and regeneration of a site formerly occupied by Throstle Recreation Ground and Middleton Skills Centre.

This wider work will, by early next year, also provide 100 new family homes as well as 16 fully wheelchair accessible bungalows.

The redevelopment of the site represents one of the largest projects that has been carried out through Leeds’s Council Housing Growth Programme (CHGP).

This week two senior councillors visited Gascoigne House to see first-hand how it is impacting the local community.

Councillor Salma Arif and Councillor Jess Lennox met residents and spoke with staff during the visit and took a tour of Gascoigne House’s communal facilities, which include a café/bistro and hair salon – both opening to non-residents – as well as a laundry room and assisted bathing.

The scheme has been designed to cater for older people with a range of care needs, giving them an opportunity to live independently while also benefiting from services including 24/7 on-site emergency support.

The wider redevelopment’s wheelchair accessible bungalows have been built adjacent to Gascoigne House so that their residents also have easy access to its facilities and services.

The new family homes, meanwhile, are a mix of two, three and four-bedroom properties, all built to energy efficient and eco-friendly specifications.

Around 80 of the bungalows and family homes are now finished and, like the Gascoigne House apartments, have been made available at affordable rents.

The council is also planning to invest in the wider site’s public open spaces, with improvements planned to make them suitable for sport, informal play and dog-walking.

Footpaths and street lighting will enhance access and safety while the area’s bio-diversity will be increased with the help of wildlife-friendly measures like swift and bat boxes and hedgehog superhighways.

Councillor Jess Lennox, Leeds City Council’s executive member for housing, said: “The transformation of this site in Middleton is a flagship element of our Council Housing Growth Programme and underlines our determination to provide warm, welcoming and affordable homes for people across the city.

“I’m particularly pleased that it will be catering for a mix of needs, with family homes and wheelchair accessible bungalows standing alongside Gascoigne House and its hugely-impressive extra care facilities.

“The work here is creating a happy, thriving community – and, crucially, one that is also very much part of wider Middleton life.”