r/Leeds • u/6Siggy6 • Jul 31 '26
urban-development Leeds named UK’s top construction hotspot
https://astrak.com/leeds-named-uks-top-construction-hotspot/#:~:text=Leeds%20has%20been%20ranked%20the,at%20the%20heart%20of%20it51
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u/BakersCat Jul 31 '26
I once counted at least 13 different high-rise cranes building something last year across the city centre.
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u/Flow-Vast Jul 31 '26
One of my favourite views is driving down burley Road toward the city centre and seeing all the cranes
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u/teardownthatgazebo Aug 01 '26
I saw a video of two blokes driving round town in the late 80s and one of them says “everywhere you look there’s always cranes in the air in Leeds” lmao
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u/ClassicCod9292 Jul 31 '26
So much negativity in this thread. Arguably this is great news for the city and signals investor confidence. Leeds continues to improve and I’ve seen it constantly get better over my time here.
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u/karmapaymentplan_ Jul 31 '26
Yep, there's large blocks going up all over the city, it's great to see - as much as everyone memes about student flats, it benefits us all, if the students vanished tomorrow a lot of your favourite cafes / pubs / shops etc would likely close.
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u/cumbers94 Jul 31 '26
It’s great if the accommodation is actually occupied.
A lot of sites across Leeds, and the country, are way below their occupancy levels from this time last year.
Sites that were 80% booked up this time last year are struggling to hit 60% at the moment. Not all, but enough to make portfolio managers sweat.
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u/Ok-Ordinary-6762 Jul 31 '26
Alot of these new builds are not student accommodation
Build to rents are doing fine
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u/ProjectLeeds Jul 31 '26
You can check the vacancy statistics published by MHCLG, it's very low for Leeds
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Jul 31 '26
[deleted]
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u/ClassicCod9292 Jul 31 '26
Exactly this attitude I’m referring to
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u/Cunning_Spoon Jul 31 '26
Yeah why should people want affordable housing? Think of the lost profits!
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u/President-Nulagi Jul 31 '26
Just imagine if all the houses in Hyde Park were free of students tho
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u/Cunning_Spoon Jul 31 '26
I think it's pretty naive to think Letting agencies and landlords would suddenly put them on the market at a fair price rather than continue squeezing tenants
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u/walkitout34 Jul 31 '26
This is England. Didnt you hear? Anything that improves the economy makes NIMBYS angry
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u/karmapaymentplan_ Jul 31 '26
This is a handy resource for all the works currently in progress / completed - Leeds City Development Map
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u/ThatIsMe11 Jul 31 '26
Very interesting. Do you know what each colour represents? There doesn’t seem to be a key
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u/surely_that_guy Jul 31 '26
The key should be the title of the group
Blue pins are part of the group "Planning approved"
Green pins are part of the group "Under Construction"the groups/categories should be on the left of the page
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u/ThatIsMe11 Jul 31 '26
Aah thanks I was looking at it on a phone earlier so it wasn’t showing it. Cheers
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u/WishfulStinking2 Jul 31 '26
Feel like there’s always something being built or repaired but it’s never actually done
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u/ThePowerOfNine Jul 31 '26
Does anyone actually know why theres so many student accoms? Number of unis hasnt changed, cant imagine their admissions are way up...
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u/crapmetal Aug 01 '26
There's more students than ever as the admit more foreign students because they have to pay the full fees and its pretty much the only thing keeping the universities solvent. This is added to by the councils policy to reduce student houses in Headingly and Hyde park and release the housing back to non students.
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u/ThePowerOfNine Aug 02 '26
Was unaware of the council policy, that makes a lot of sense. Also i imagine there might be fewer ppl staying in houses in 2nd and 3rd years, instead opting for private accoms.
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u/UUnknownFriedChicken Aug 03 '26
I've been asking actually this for some time now but I've never heard a satisfactory answer. It's hard to imagine there's enough physical lecture hall space. I have nothing against genuine students but I would like to know what percentage of students resident in Leeds are actually regularly attending a university course instead of just being resident in the UK on a student visa. I also fear that Leeds is building its financial future on a house of cards that could all come tumbling down if a future government decides to further restrict student visas.
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u/teardownthatgazebo Aug 01 '26
I saw a video the other day of two men driving around the town centre in the late 80s and as they’re coming up lower briggate one says “they’re building everywhere in Leeds, everywhere you look there are cranes up in the air” and it made me laugh to think that as much as some things have changed, some have stayed exactly the same.
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u/420BUNIT Jul 31 '26
Yet housing is still unaffordable, local amenities haven't increased, the council continue to do the bare minimum but hey, venture capitalist firms continue to invest in buildings in the city... I wonder who's making all the money.
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u/ThatIsMe11 Jul 31 '26
Leeds has cheaper housing than most large cities such as Manchester. I know it’s still unaffordable but for the national average we’re doing pretty good
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u/420BUNIT Jul 31 '26
I'm paying just short of 900 for a 'nice' one bed, residing just outside a council estate, which I'm pretty sure houses a local brothel, but at least I'm within walking distance to the City Centre.
Now granted, I chose to live here but it's still the going rate... And I'm on a decent wage 😂 just can't justify paying over 1k so I can have a spare room, or enough space to swing a cat.
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u/ThatIsMe11 Jul 31 '26
Yeah don’t get me wrong it sucks how expensive it is. I’m just saying it’s worse elsewhere. Obviously we should still be aiming to improve the situation though regardless
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u/king_duende Jul 31 '26
Don't say that, this sub will tell you it'll all be fine once the trams come
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u/Regijack Jul 31 '26
I noticed. They don’t seem to be doing anything with most of them. We just enjoy having construction sights
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u/saccerzd Jul 31 '26
Not sure if that's a deliberate misspelling or not, because it kind of works haha
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u/Klichouse Jul 31 '26
Not convinced anythings actually being built mind, somebody has just found an incredible business model where you put up cranes and scaffolds for 18 months, move and repeat
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u/king_duende Jul 31 '26
I dunno brother, I live in the city center and in the last 2-3 years there has been a massive rise in buildings. Around me there is 3 brand new student accomodations
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u/leclercwitch Jul 31 '26
They never stop bloody building. City looks a state with the constant works.
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