About this home:

Coordinated by Claude Hendrickson, a group of 12 black men from Chapeltown built their own houses amidst fire bombs and prevalent racism in the 90s. None of them had any building experience and all had housing need and/or were unemployed. This disenfranchised, deprived group challenged stereotypes and adversity by taking their future into their own hands. They built 12 houses with some training from Henry Boot Training and went on to form a construction company - Frontline Self Build Housing Association. They won an award from Leeds Training and Enterprise Award: "Their tremendous commitment to training and personal development has become an inspiration to the local community. They have quite literally built a better future for themselves."

Planning Insights:

Leeds City Council supported this project alongside Leeds Training and Enterprise Council. They partnered with Leeds Federated Housing Association to fund the project. The houses were under shared ownership with LFHA - the members owned a share of the house they built and had the right to 'staircase' up to full ownership over time.