Leeds has historically been known as an industrial city, but over the last few decades it has gradually transitioned towards a more contemporary economy. Textiles and engineering have been replaced by banking, finance, law and more latterly tech. Leeds City Council has recently launched an ambitious plan to move the city’s economy on to the next level. We will look at the plan and what it might mean for the property market here.

First a few underlying facts. The Leeds population has grown fast over the last decade. ONS figures show that the population grew from around 750,000 to 812,000 in that time. Official figures claim that the economy is worth £36bn and that it has outperformed the rest of the UK in terms of growth.

Local authority figures suggest that the financial and business services sectors now account for 38% of total economic output in the city. They say that 60% of all growth in the Leeds economy is coming from three key sectors – finance, business and professional services; health; and digital and tech.

It is probably not unfair to say that, although there has been a huge amount of construction in the centre, much of the rest of Leeds has lagged behind. The infrastructure is strained and the housing stock has failed to keep up with the demand to live in the city. There are still large tracts of post-industrial land outside the immediate centre which await redevelopment and regeneration.

Leeds City Council has just released its latest plan to capitalise on the growing economy and reshape the city for the next decade. The Leeds Economic Vision 2025-2035 is a 10 year economic vision and delivery plan which sets out a roadmap to generate £20bn in economic growth and create 100,000 new jobs across the city. Its broad aims include driving investment and innovation in the city’s major sectors, raising the profile of the city on the global stage, and what it calls ‘aligning place development and building resilience’.