Leeds city council has put in a bid for £60m of funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) with a view to building nearly 9,000 new homes in the city centre.

The council said the centre of Leeds had the capacity for up to 20,000 homes to be built in the coming decades, with 8,500 deliverable by 2033 if an HIF bid proved successful.

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds city council said: “The Housing Infrastructure Fund bid forms part of our ambitious, city-wide investment plans for new housing.”