New housing options for older residents in Leeds

Housing association Home Group, in partnership with Leeds City Council, Lovell Later Living and Morgan Sindall Construction, has just recently completed construction, on time and on budget, at one ‘extra care’ site, while contracts have been struck, and construction has commenced at another, located on Holmsley Lane.

Extra care housing is intended to provide supported services and communal spaces to older residents, while still maintaining their independence and tackling social isolation. One of the key ways of doing this is to place extra care homes in strategic locations, designed to encourage customers to engage with the local community.

Aimed at people over the age of 55 with support needs, Home Group is working with Lovell Later Living to deliver four extra care schemes across the city, in partnership with Leeds City Council.

One of the four schemes, a 63-apartment development on Westerton Walk in Tingley called Amblers Orchard, is already open and is already seeing a thriving community develop.

One of the residents of Amblers Orchard said: “We meet lots of interesting people. Amblers Orchard is well looked after and clean, and we have the freedom to meet people or have quiet time in our apartment.

“When we need help, we know it is there. We feel secure.”

The second development, on Seacroft Crescent in the east of the city, completed construction at the end of August. The new extra care community will be known as Greenmill Gardens and the Home Group team have ramped up works in order for it to be ready to open this Autumn.

Sally Parsons, Director of Housing and Support at Home Group, said: “We see this as a real opportunity to support older residents in Leeds and provide homes which offer them the support they need while keeping their independence.

“We’ve worked with partners and residents to ensure our ‘extra care’ homes keep residents active and engaged with the community.

“We are really excited to see people already settled into our Amblers Orchard, with more due to be moving into our second location very soon.“

There are exciting times ahead for older customers in Leeds and as we start work on our third site, Windlesford Green, we’re proud to be a part of Leeds’ journey.”

Paula Broadbent, Managing Director of Lovell Later Living shared: “It has been exciting to see how Amblers Orchard has quickly become part of the local environment at Westerton Walk, with both customers and the local community benefitting from the facilities on offer. With construction now complete at Seacroft Crescent, the opportunity that the Greenmill Gardens Extra Care community creates for local older people, supported to live affordably and independently in a home of their own, within a thriving community which is providing long term jobs for local people, is another outcome we can all be very proud of being part of. Extra care housing plays a vital role in enabling people to retain their independence in later life and we, alongside our sister company and construction partner, Morgan Sindall Construction, look forward to supporting our partners develop schemes, including The Sycamores, which people need and aspire to.”

With more than 120,000 people over the age of 65 living in Leeds – more than 15% of the city’s population – Leeds City Council wants to see an additional 1,000 extra care homes delivered by partners before 2028.

Councillor Fiona Venner, Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships at Leeds City Council said: “This milestone is a really pleasing development for the future of extra care housing in Leeds.

“The delivery of Amblers Orchard and the ongoing work at Greenmill Gardens and The Sycamores are important elements of the council’s commitment to ensuring Leeds is the best city to grow old in, and I look forward to hearing about the positive impact this housing will deliver for the residents and local community.”