Positive Leeds

Granary Wharf on the historic Leeds-Liverpool Canal is a focus of the city’s waterfront restoration

It is hard to picture a Loiner, a citizen of Leeds, northern England. For many in the UK, the city’s name conjures up little more than a generic image of shopping, clubbing and call centres but in recent years it has acquired a new image, one that encapsulates the folly of the boom of the century’s first decade: a picture of property oversupply and buy-to-let greed.

Popularly described as the “Knightsbridge of the north”, referring to London’s upmarket district, Leeds’ ornate Victorian shopping arcades jostle for space alongside large department stores – including the country’s first Harvey Nichols outside the capital. But when boom became bust, the shops and office towers seemed to shout of hubris.

That is set to change, according to Simon Gawthorpe, managing director of developer and regeneration specialist Urban Splash, which has launched Saxton, a new complex in the East Bank area of the city. “There are two big myths about Leeds,” says Gawthorpe. “One, that there is this huge oversupply and the other that landlords were keeping apartments empty. In fact, we’re going into a shortage.”

According to a recent report from property sales companies Knight Frank, Morgans City Living, Savills, King Sturge and Allsop, in conjunction with the University of Leeds, the oversupply problem is a thing of the past and city-centre apartment schemes in Leeds have high levels of occupancy. The number of properties managed by six large agencies in the city total 3,153 apartments and these are 92 per cent occupied. Only one scheme is entirely vacant and the rental market has remained strong during the recession.

In the middle of one of Leeds’ greyest social housing estates, Urban Splash’s 410-apartment Saxton development might seem unlikely to have much of an impact. But, as Gawthorpe explains, “All the developments in Leeds so far have been tight developments with no space. This is something completely different.”

Phase one (the yellow-fronted “Drive” building) is nearing completion and is sold out, and construction is under way on the second building, “Parade”, which has been assisted by government funding. Prices start at £83,000 for a studio and rise to £320,000 for a duplex. Assisted purchase schemes are available and some properties will be available for rent.

Meanwhile a number of projects designed to help draw new residents to the city by boosting employment opportunities and enhancing its commercial and cultural image are under way.

In the centre, the 120-unit Trinity Leeds shopping project is the first big retail enterprise to start in the city since the financial meltdown. Scheduled to open in 2012, the Land Securities scheme will include boutique cinema chain Everyman’s first venue outside the south-east.

In the south of the city, Holbeck Urban Village, the first of its kind in the Leeds city region, is a 37.5-acre, multi-million-pound regeneration programme aiming to create more than 5,000 new jobs in the digital and media sector. Incorporating the old villages of Holbeck and Beeston Hill, the area is home to the Round Foundry Media Centre, which opened in 2003.

A 12,500-seat concert venue, Leeds Arena, north of the city centre, being built with £10m funding from the Yorkshire Forward regional development agency, is due to launch in late 2012. Meanwhile, Granary Wharf, on the historic Leeds-Liverpool Canal is one of the focuses of the restoration of the city’s waterside, which is being hailed as the key to its new cultural reputation and will host a pannier market – so called after the baskets in which farmers’ wives and daughters used to bring produce to market – and craft events. Developments at the Wharf include the opening up of its historic viaduct arches for commercial use, a new City Inn hotel and the cylindrical, 160-apartment Candle House.

Louise King, a teacher, bought a property in Granary Wharf in November 2009, paying £130,000 for a one-bedroom unit with a balcony facing the canal. “Leeds is brilliant,” she says. “There are loads of new bars and restaurants and I live 15 minutes’ walk from work. I love that [the city] is so near to beautiful countryside as well as being really bustling. The new shopping centre is exciting, too.”

Twentieth-century Leeds developed around a legal and corporate centre established on the basis of its location, almost equidistant between London and Edinburgh, and became one of the largest financial centres outside the UK capital. Due to its young and transient population, the city’s market was driven by the strong buy-to-let phenomenon until 2007, when its strong links with the financial sector meant it felt the brunt of the economic crisis. The economic collapse, however, means that property prices are still below the national average, with the average two-bedroom property selling for £149,500 and one-bedroom residences for £101,3000, according to Land Registry data. Estate agency King Sturge is listing two-bedroom city apartments upwards of £160,000 and local agency Castlehill lists a five-bedroom Victorian terraced house near the university for £400,000.

“Following a positive 2009, 2010 did get off to a slow start but March proved to be our best month for more than two years,” says Russell Manning of Leeds-based estate agent Manning Stainton. Outside the city centre, the northern suburbs (those within easy reach of Leeds-Bradford airport) of Chapel Allerton, Roundhay, Alwoodley, Adel and Shadwell are where the “big money” resides and are also within reach of Roundhay Park’s 700 acres.

Most notable of these is Manor Drive in Alwoodley, where the average property price, according to Land Registry statistics, is £1,545,250. Manning advises prospective buyers to keep an eye on the North Leeds suburb of Meanwood, where the city’s first Waitrose supermarket is under construction.

He believes the housing market has broadly settled down and says: “In Leeds, general demand is still good but pricing seems to be the key driver. Buyers are happy to walk away from what they see as optimistically priced properties so vendors need to be very careful not to over-extend their expectations.”

Estate agency

Manning Stainton, tel: +44 (0)113258 2657, www.manningstainton.co.uk

Developer

Urban Splash, tel: +44 (0)333666 6000, www.urbansplash.co.uk