Published 11th Aug 2023, 16:45 BST

James Pitt, Yorkshire managing director for Muse, which is working on the 1,000-home scheme through its English Cities Fund joint venture with Legal & General and Homes England, said the details of the development were still subject to public consultation. However, he added that he was keen to provide a mix of tenures to create a community that includes everyone from individuals to families.

Earlier this year, Bradford Council’s executive voted to move ahead with the City Village scheme, a five-to-10-year project which aims to repurpose areas of the city that have traditionally been used for retail.

The huge development would see 1,000 homes built over three main areas in the city centre – the Oastler Market site, the site of the Kirkgate Shopping Centre and on council owned car parks off Westgate.

James Pitt, managing director for Yorkshire and the North East at Muse, outside the Kirkgate Shopping Centre in Bradford, photographed for The Yorkshire Post by Tony Johnson. The developer is preparing plans to demolish the shopping centre and create a city village of 1,000 homes on the site.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, Mr Pitt said: “What we’re trying to create is a place. I can’t tell you what that place is today because we’ve not engaged yet with the community to understand what that is.

“What I can say is those homes will be a mix of tenures. At one end, we’d like to see some aspirational living with homes that people can buy. There has to be that aspiration for young people who want to stay and live in Bradford.

“We also need to introduce some build-to-rent models either led by the council or the private sector.

“We will also work with registered providers to provide mixed tenure affordable homes, including shared ownership and discounted rental models.”

City Village also aims to boost new opportunities for revitalised independent retail, cafes, bars and new business spaces as well as providing high-quality public spaces, modern landscaping and traffic-calmed streets.

“The spaces between the buildings are going to be as important as the buildings themselves,” Mr Pitt said.

“What are those spaces? How are they used? Are they safe spaces? Can we help curate and bring long term stewardship to those spaces?

“It’s not right that a developer puts a service charge in place and then walks away but equally it’s not right that we run those spaces. Those spaces need to be run by communities.”

Muse, which specialises in creating new communities through long-term complex regeneration projects, is currently working with its ECF partners and Bradford Council to discuss the funding and phasing of City Village. It hopes to start the demolition of Kirkgate Shopping Centre by mid-2024 and begin infrastructure work towards the end of next year ahead of Bradford City of Culture 2025.

“The Kirkgate Shopping Centre is a huge concrete barrier in the middle of the city. It prevents connectivity,” Mr Pitt said.

"By opening up that space, pedestrianising the surrounding streets and bringing in homes at the right scale, we also hope it will provide a catalyst for wider development.”

The project will be funded by both public and private sector money. Mr Pitt said he hoped it would be able to draw down on Homes England’s new £1bn Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund, which is designed unlock housing-led development as well as other pots of money available through the Government’s Levelling Up Fund.

Although complex regeneration projects can be difficult to get off the ground, Mr Pitt said he was confident about City Village. "A successful project needs a strong vision, strong leadership, momentum and partnership,” he said. “Bradford has all of those elements at the moment. It’ll still be a huge challenge but it feels to me that City Village has got a real chance of success.”

Why Bradford's 'City Village' developer believes the 1,000-home scheme will be a success