Sweet Street West Holbeck: 15-storey apartment building gets green-light from council as part of area 'regeneration'

Sweet Street West is a “high-quality, accessible, residential-led” scheme aiming at bringing close to 1,000 new apartments to Leeds. The project is led by Platform, and a hybrid planning application was submitted to Leeds City Council in June 2022, with the first part approved on Monday November 6, 2023.

The first part of the proposal, which includes the construction of a 15 storey residential building which will provide 451 dwellings, as well as ground floor commercial space, a bar and an eight storey office building, has been granted full permission. 

The outline application for mixed use development comprising a maximum of 900 dwellings does however still require approval on details including appearance, landscaping, layout and scale, and will require a separate application, according to the council.

Sweet Street West is part of the regeneration of the Holbeck area, and is located only a few hundred metres from previously approved development plans including the 32 storey Midland Mills.

In the Design and Access Statement, Platform writes: “The site provides a significant opportunity to deliver a high-quality, accessible, residential-led scheme providing additional workspace and commercial floorspace alongside a substantive, vibrant new public realm linking into the South Bank’s strategic green framework and forming a gateway to the city centre. 

“The site previously gained consent in 2007 for a mixed-use development of approximately 90,000sqm providing apartments, community uses, workspaces and some commercial accommodation. This consent has since lapsed. 

“The Applicant and their design team have appraised the previous proposals and identified a strategy for how a similar quantum of development could be provided in an arrangement which significantly improves upon the spatial design, meets Leeds City Council contemporary planning policy and contributes positively and sustainably to the overall aspirations of the South Bank Framework.”