Bradford’s long-awaited City Village regeneration scheme has cleared planning to pave the way for up to 1,000 homes in the city’s former commercial heart.

The flagship scheme, driven by Bradford Council and regeneration specialist ECF – the partnership between Homes England, Legal & General and Muse – will transform the ‘Top of Town’ area covering Chain Street and both Oastler and Kirkgate closed shopping centres.

Phase one has now been waved through and will deliver 97 townhouses across Chain Street and the northern Oastler site, centred around new courtyards, green spaces and a community green.

Phase 1 Oastler North townhouse scheme

Bradford-based housing association Incommunities has been lined up as preferred funding partner to deliver the first homes for sale and rent, subject to final legal sign-off.

Outline consent is also in place for the wider masterplan, including more than 700 flats across the southern Oastler site and Kirkgate, alongside retail, leisure and business space.

Demolition of the former Oastler Shopping Centre, which closed last summer,  is due to start now and will take around seven months. The 1970s Kirkgate Shopping Centre will also shut later this year ahead of demolition towards the end of 2026.

Construction of phase one is expected to start this summer and run for around 24 months.

Urban village plan

Three key sites with phase one (red) and phase 2 with outlining planning (yellow)

The project has already secured £13m in-principle backing from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority alongside £30m from Homes England.

City Village is one of 15 priority locations under the WYCA and Homes England Strategic Place Partnership, aimed at unlocking complex city-centre housing regeneration and boosting urban density in line with the Government’s Northern Growth Strategy.

The professional team includes 5plus Architects, re-form Landscape Architecture, Avison Young, Cushman & Wakefield and Turner & Townsend.

For Bradford, it marks a decisive shift from retail-led decline to residential-led revival – and a serious attempt to compete with neighbouring city centres for renters and first-time buyers.