Leeds Build-To-Rent Project Gets Green Light

The city of Leeds has been enjoying something of a building boom in the last couple of years and another development is about to be added to the busy city centre construction scene.

Developer McClaren Living has secured planning permission for an £85 million build-to-rent project at Beck Yard, which is located in the South Bank regeneration area. This district, hitherto known as Holbeck and once a major textiles area, is being transformed from an underused post-industrial district with a series of office and residential schemes, expanding the city centre southwards.

Features of the Beck Yard scheme include 375 apartments, 7,000 sq ft of internal amenity space and 30,000 sq ft of external amenity space. There will be lounges for residents, a gym, shared workspaces and rooftop gardens on the 1^st, 9^th and 14^th floors. 

It is one of two site McClaren Living is working on in Leeds and these and other projects will provide plenty of jobs for construction workers, even if there is a recession as recently forecasted by the Bank of England. 

Builders who have been hard at work on current projects in the sweltering heat should, therefore, be looking to invest in warmer outfits for the months ahead such as long sleeve workwear, since the autumn and winter will be no less busy.

Managing Director of McLaren Living Matthew Biddle said:  “It’s an excellent time to be working in the city. Leeds is one of the UK’s fastest growing cities, forecast to grow by 21 per cent over the next ten years.” 

He added that this is being aided by the city’s growing status as a “headquarters location”, with the arrival of broadcasters like the BBC and Channel 4, as well as many large corporate firms.

 Other upcoming residential construction projects could include three new towers on the former Yorkshire Post site. A planning application was submitted earlier this month by student accommodation developer Urbanite, with the tallest of the structures set to be 42 storeys.