Whether through funding, construction, or delivery we need to be innovative in 2025

At the end of 2024, we achieved our biggest success of the year across Yorkshire and the North East. As part of ECF, we signed a Development Agreement with Bradford Metropolitan District Council to deliver Bradford City Village.

This milestone is the culmination of 18 months’ work to develop and align a masterplan vision and delivery strategy for City Village in collaboration with the community, the local authority and stakeholders. Following the completion of this important preparatory work, a hybrid planning application can now be submitted over the coming months.

Bradford City Village is a significant and complex opportunity which will deliver a new community with up to 1,000 new homes. We have already secured Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) funding from Homes England to deliver the public realm and infrastructure that is needed to place make the City Village area. Subject to grant support from WYCA, we are aiming to move forward with the first catalyst phases of townhouses and apartments from 2026.

Elsewhere, we have recently completed the delivery of 113 affordable homes at Northshore in Stockton-on-Tees. We also completed Forge Island in Rotherham in 2024. With over 1,500 people attending a carnival-style launch it was a proud moment, delivering real value for the community

At Harrier Park in Hucknall we sold 22 acres of land with planning consent for industrial space to an experienced local partner. This built on our long-term delivery of a mixed-use community with homes, schools, public spaces, and infrastructure.

As we look ahead to 2025, we’ve been establishing strong relationships right across our region. We are in advanced discussions with a North East local authority to support innovation-led regeneration, as well as two further partners in Yorkshire. These opportunities are expected to progress quickly.

Across Yorkshire and the North East, we expect even more opportunities to emerge in 2025, in large part because of the emerging devolution agenda.

This will be driven by the plans set out within the Devolution White Paper which propose greater regional powers and funding for infrastructure, affordable housing, and economic growth – particularly for Combined Authorities.

Bradford City Village will be a strong example of partnership working with Bradford Council, complemented by the deepening powers of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, to meet local, regional, and national objectives.

It will be a flagship opportunity for the region, showing clearly what devolution can achieve.

Whilst the settling of economic and inflationary conditions is helping to bring confidence back to the market, we will still need to be innovative. This could include innovative funding, construction methods and delivery models, or working with university partners to create innovation-led places. New approaches will also be needed to overcome challenges such as viability.

We will need to leverage Muse’s national partnerships – the established ECF (with Homes England and Legal & General) and newly launched Habiko (with Pension Insurance Corporation and Homes England).

Whilst ECF has a strong track record across Yorkshire and the North East, Habiko will provide new opportunities to deliver sustainable and affordable homes in partnership.

Across the geographic spread of Yorkshire and the North East, we are engaged in compelling and exciting discussions with local partners. As a result, 2025 will be a year of new partnerships and opportunity as we work collaboratively to shape the future of our region.