Member Article

£1.5 million Leeds housing scheme transforms Victorian house in Burley

Esh Property Services has completed a new affordable homes scheme in Leeds that is already fully occupied and has seen a historic former Victorian house and its grounds completely transformed into 13 stunning ‘lifetime home’ apartments and two new family houses.

The development, known as The Lomonds, is located on St Ann’s Lane in Burley and has been redeveloped by Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association (LYHA) to create an innovative scheme designed by Leeds based Brewster Bye Architects.

Esh Property Services was the lead contractor on the project, which took approximately 15 months to complete, and received support from Leeds City Council and The Homes and Communities Agency.

The Housing Association acquired the main house in the early 1970s and converted it into four apartments before approaching Brewster Bye two years ago to explore ways of incorporating more homes into the development.

Mark Henderson, a director at Brewster Bye Architects, says: “We explored every possible option for this development, from extending the main property through to demolishing it and starting again from scratch.

“However, the main house is a stunning building that’s full of history so it’s fantastic to be able to restore it into five stunning apartments, that all benefit from the property’s original character features, and are complemented by the new build element of the development.”

Joanna Chambers of LYHA explains: “The Lomonds is a beautiful building in a popular residential location which has been providing affordable homes for local people for approximately 40 years.

“The time had come to breathe new life into the development and maximise the site’s full potential.

“We were also keen to create homes that are easily adaptable and suitable for everyone regardless of their life stage or circumstances and this was a key part of the design brief.

“As a result we’ve incorporated wide corridors, high plug sockets as well as bathrooms and kitchens that can be quickly and easily modified to suit the resident’s individual requirements.

“The homes have all proved extremely popular with residents across all demographics and age groups and it’s great to see that the development is already fully occupied and providing high quality homes in this part of Leeds.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .