Holt Park - Housing

Housing

One half of Holt Park was built as a council estate; the other half as private housing - the latter being of the period 'Ashton' design (similar to many across Leeds such as Ainsty in Wetherby and Knottingley), comprising a mixture of detached and semi-detached housing, and several apartments. This came about after an agreement between Norman Ashton (an experienced developer) and Leeds City Council to create a new 'village' within the city, which would include a mixture of private and council housng stock with shops and leisure facilities. The farm was sold to the developers by The Co-op, who purchased the land in 1920 as one of five dairy farms in Leeds. The earlier housing was completed before the farm was closed, the farmer took advantage of this delivering milk to all the new residents in the early years.

The council housing is prefabricated small mews-style set in cul-de-sacs, with several parades of two storey blocks of flats. At the same time two schools, a sports centre (Holt Park Leisure Centre), a library (Holt Park Library, which was annexed to and therefore part of the High School) and a shopping centre were built. The sports centre can be found within the shopping complex, and the area is collectively known as Holt Park District Centre.