Cheers! Opening time for new homes on former pub site in Leeds

The 18-apartment Plantation development has been built on land in Swarcliffe that used to be occupied by the Squinting Cat.

Designed and constructed with older people in mind, the apartments benefit from a lift, off-street parking and landscaped communal gardens.

They form part of a push to build around 1,000 new council homes in Leeds and bring brownfield sites across the city back into use.

The Squinting Cat shut down a number of years ago and subsequently fell into a serious state of disrepair.

It became a magnet for anti-social behaviour before being gutted by fire in 2013 and later demolished.

Coun Debra Coupar, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, said: “We’ve been ambitious in setting out plans to build nearly 1,000 new homes, but this isn’t just a numbers game.

“There is real need for genuinely affordable housing that suits a range of needs right across the city.

“The new flats here in Swarcliffe show that we can provide new homes for an older generation and in doing so, we can free up much needed council homes for other families.”

Comprising six one-bedroom and 12 two-bedroom apartments, the development was built for the council by Britcon UK.

Paul Clarkson, Britcon managing director, said: “We are delighted to deliver these affordable, low maintenance, energy efficient and sustainable homes.

“We used a timber frame construction to meet the high energy, thermal, acoustic and air tight requirements to deliver well-engineered and comfortable accommodation.”

The Swarcliffe scheme has been welcomed by local Labour councillors Peter Gruen, Pauleen Grahame and Janette Walker.

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