The Housing in Headingley Project is currently pursuing a threefold strategy.

• HeadingleyHomes  Love Headingley – but have to leave?  Want to sell – but only to a family?  Many residents who have to leave Headingley want to pass on their home to another family resident.  As a short-term project, to meet this need, the Trust is introducing HeadingleyHomes, a ‘family-friendly’ option, in association with the local estate agency, Manning Stainton. HeadingleyHomes aims to help maintain a balanced, sustainable community in Headingley, by providing homes for families wanting to move in, and by finding family buyers for those who have to move out.  The aim of the HeadingleyHomes initiative is to help them to do so.  Contact Clare Frieze, at Manning Stainton’s Headingley Branch, 20 Otley Road, tel 274 8646, email headingley@manningstainton.co.uk
   

• Affordable Homes  The huge demand for private renting in Headingley has priced out a balanced community.  Affordable housing is essential to redress the balance of the community.  It’s an intractable problem.  In the medium term, the Trust is pursuing avenues, with housing associations and other housing agencies, to see if we can make houses available in Headingley which are affordable for long-term residents to buy or rent. A particular line of enquiry is exploring the possibilities provided by Section 106 Agreements in new developments, and setting up a Community Land Trust to do so.
   

• Housing Strategy  In the long run, the Trust aims to prepare a Strategy for the development of housing in Headingley. Of course, the future development of housing in Headingley depends on the evolution of the local housing market.  Research is necessary to guide any intervention by the Trust.  The first phase therefore is a research project on housing in Headingley, supported by all the stakeholders involved, and carried out by Dr Rachael Unsworth, of Leeds University, an expert on housing in Leeds (she co-authored Twenty-First Century Leeds [2004] and wrote City Living in Leeds [2005]), with Huw Jones of Re'new. The outcome will be a report on local conditions. The second phase is to prepare a Housing Strategy for our area. On the recommendation of Leeds HMO Lobby, such a Strategy is included in the Area Committee’s Area Delivery Plan for 2007/08, and is currently in preparation by the Area Committee. In partnership with the Committee and with Re'new, the Trust held a Seminar with local professionals to begin the preparation of the Strategy on 18 June 2007.  On 19 May 2008, this will be followed by a Public Seminar on Housing in Headingley.