Plan is 'most ambitious regeneration project in generations'

City Village will see over 1,000 homes built on three locations in the city centre – the Kirkgate Shopping Centre site, the Oastler Market site and on car parks in the Chain Street area.

The huge development will also see three new parks, shops, cafes and office space created.

At a meeting of Bradford Council’s Executive on Tuesday morning, members voted to move to the next stage, appointing the preferred developer of the scheme and entering a funding agreement with Homes England that will release £29.9m of Homes England cash to push ahead with the plans.

At Tuesday’s meeting, members were told that the work will see the Oastler Centre demolished in late 2025 and the Kirkgate Centre demolished in 2026.

Construction is expected to start in 2027, and continue for a decade.

The report says: “The City Village scheme is expected to be a 10-year transformational place-making project that will leverage more than £300m of public and private sector investment into Bradford City Centre.”

The Council has appointed ECF, the partnership between Homes England, Legal & General and Muse, as the preferred partner for the development. Although the Council will be involved in preparing the sites for demolition and redevelopment, it will be this partnership that carries out the development of the homes.

A report to members gave more detail of the plans, saying 949 homes would be built on the different sites that make up the City Village.

These will be a mix of apartments and townhouses, and include market housing as well as affordable homes.

It also includes 55,000 square foot of retail, café/restaurant and office space.

An artist's impression of how the Oastler site could look (Image: Bradford Council)

Bradford Council announced that it had purchased the Kirkgate Shopping Centre for over £15m in 2022.

The plan was to re-locate the businesses based there – with Primark moving to Broadway, and demolish the centre.

Oastler Market would also be demolished, with the new Darley Street Market becoming the city’s new market hall.

Since then there has been a consultation on the plans, including artists impressions of the proposed City Village, but little in the way of new information.

Tuesday’s Executive meeting was also given a report detailing the process of how the existing shopping centres would be vacated – and what compensations would be provided to current businesses there.

Those reports were not made public for commercial reasons.

Bradford Council will be providing £11.68m towards the project.

Speaking at the meeting Dave Shepherd, Director of Place on Bradford Council, said: “Leading research about the future of cities shows that more and more people are choosing to live in city centres – they enjoy the buzz of city centre life.

“The regeneration of Bradford is showing the investment community that Bradford is open for business, and we’re starting to attract high levels interest. This will bring around the scale of improvements necessary to turn the city’s fortunes around.”

Simon Woodhurst, Regeneration Development Manager, said Bradford was starting from a “low base” when it came to city centre living, but hoped schemes such as the pedestrianisation of certain areas was making the city more attractive. He added: “Hopefully the new mass transit scheme will give people the ability to live in the city centre and travel elsewhere.”

Unlike many Bradford regeneration projects, City Village seemed to have cross party support at Tuesday’s Executive.

Conservative Councillor Bob Felstead (Bingley Rural) said: “I totally support these ambitions, this is a great move forward and the report is really welcome.”

Green Party Leader in Bradford Councillor Matt Edwards (Tong) said: “This is a really exciting thing to be happening in Bradford. I was recently speaking to the Leader of Bristol Council, and they are coming up to see the regeneration work happening in Bradford. It is good to see Bradford being highlighted nationally for its regeneration.”

After the meeting Sir Michael Lyons, Chair of ECF, said: “City Village is Bradford’s most ambitious regeneration project in generations. The funding made available by Homes England marks a significant step forward and demonstrates the commitment to ECF’s partnership with Bradford Council and the future of the city centre, coinciding with the city’s forthcoming UK City of Culture year.

“We’re excited to continue to work with the Council, Homes England and West Yorkshire Combined Authority to help Bradford realise its full potential, transforming the city centre into a safe, sustainable and inclusive place where people will want to live, as well as work and visit.”

A new public consultation on the plans is expected in the coming months, with a planning application due early next year.