Celebrations as Leeds Jewish Housing Association completes historic development

The Lord Mayor of Leeds and the National Housing Federation chief executive were the guests of honour as the Leeds Jewish Housing Association celebrated the opening of the biggest development project in its 69-year history.

Cllr Robert W Gettings and Kate Henderson jointly unveiled two plaques at a special ceremony attended by residents, political representatives and members of the local community to mark the completion of 85 new properties at Queenshill Avenue in Moortown.

Craig Simons, operations director at the Leeds Jewish Housing Association, said: “This is one of the biggest things we've done in 70 years, it’s the biggest single development. We knocked down 22 properties and we built 85 in its place.

In terms of percentages, it's a large percentage for us but it has created two apartment blocks; one of which fits the general needs of people at any age, which we've not done before.

It’s been exciting to create somewhere where people could live in a mixed setting, and it’s allowed us to increase our number of properties for younger people, for singles and for those with older children.”

The new scheme encompasses two buildings, Cherry Tree House, home to 51 sheltered housing apartments for those aged 55 and over, and Hillside, comprising 34 general needs flats.

The Queenshill Avenue apartments are connected to 130 existing properties to form a sheltered village of 181 apartments for older people with secure access to the Ziff Community Centre.

At the launch event last month, Jayne Wynick, chairwoman of the Leeds Jewish Housing Association, thanked the former residents of 22 homes which had to be demolished to make way for the new buildings.

She also praised the contributions of the Leeds Jewish Housing Association’s staff and friends, alongside a range of external organisations including the Leo Baeck Housing Association which funded initial feasibility studies, CAF Bank, Acanthus Architects, Identity Consult and development partners EQUANS.

She said: “15 percent of the Leeds Jewish community live with us. People go but others come back or move here.

“We have a vibrant Jewish and cultural life and people engage in many activities and voluntary work.

“We care for each other and our housing association is the envy of many in other communities.”

Looking to the future, Ms Wynick said: “We are not an organisation that stands still and are now looking at the family homes our community desperately needs.

“We need more to ensure we can provide families with the same safety net we offer our youngsters, elderly, couples and singles.

“We need gardens where children can play safely and homes with room to grow.”

The £14 million project, delivered with support from government housing agency Homes England, has increased the Leeds Jewish Housing Association’s overall stock by 13%.

Speaking about the success of Queenshill Avenue, Craig Simons went on to say: “For us it was already a significant development, but to have [the Lord Mayor and National Housing Federation chief executive] visit gave us that recognition of how important it was.

“We were hearing from them how impressed they were by the scheme, not just for us as a small housing provider, but within the sector itself. What we're doing seems to be as impressive, or even more impressive, than some of the larger associations with 10s of 1000s of homes.

"What we've created isn't just 51 apartments, but 180 apartments in a sheltered housing village. You can get from one house all the way through to any of the other blocks and get there through the community centre internally. So come February when it's horrible and rainy and snowy, and people don't feel like going out, they can actually still connect.

"I think that solves one of the things that we've found over the last two years, as the outcome COVID kind of slowed down - the isolation that people are feeling still.”

Founded in October 1953, the Leeds Jewish Housing Association is an established Jewish-led social housing provider, committed to providing and maintaining sustainable community housing.

Currently it has more than 500 properties in its portfolio and provides a mixture of homes for single people, families, older people and shared ownership.

The association’s properties are located around the LS17 postcode of Leeds within the areas of Moortown and Alwoodley, with this new development on Queenshill Avenue adding to that same portfolio.

Referring to his visit to the Queenshill Avenue launch event, Cllr Gettings said: “I expected to meet lots of Jewish people. In actual fact, I met not only lovely Jewish people but also Muslims, Sikhs, Catholics and others.

“Everyone was so wonderfully pleasant and happy to be living together. I thought it was community cohesion absolutely at its best.

“Leeds is doing fantastically well as far as community cohesion is concerned. Leeds Jewish Housing Association is a wonderful example of that.”

Kate Henderson, the second guest of honour at the development’s grand unveiling, told guests: “What is so wonderful about this is that it is about people - your home, your neighbourhood, your place – this community of everyone together.

“Massive congratulations to all of you, particularly to the team at Leeds Jewish Housing Association for creating homes that reflect what the community wants and for being at the heart of the community.

“Regeneration is never an easy option, but it is a brilliant thing you’ve done for this community and with this community.”