You may have seen the report in today’s Times newspaper about Leeds, a much debated city which seems to have retained a perception for a few years now that there’s a massive case of oversupply, something the report author claims is simply untrue.

One of the areas of the report that caught my eye was the reference to the fact that the recession and constraints on consumer finance mean that owner occupiers are buying for the long term. It also claims that investors are buying tenanted properties rather than off plan. The author says that this is down to investing for ‘longevity’. If this is the case, and it’s a trend that this report substantiates, then what Leeds really needs is high quality, good size homes that appeal to a broad audience, not just single dwellers.

It’s something we’ve focussed on at Saxton in the East Bank area of the City – a scheme that’s referenced in the report. At Saxton, where we’re converting two former council blocks, we’ve made efforts to create homes, not profit-maximising flats. We’ve expanded the size of the original floorplates, extending outwards to create more spacious apartments. We’ve catered for customers who want outdoor space too - ground floor homes offer private gardens and next year there’ll be allotments available. Furthermore there’s also extensive communal garden space planned, with lush landscaped areas for residents to enjoy. In bringing the more traditional suburban elements into the City we believe that we can add value and help people buy for the long term.

The report also makes reference to the fact that properties need to be well managed and that’s something we too have recognised, the majority of homes in our portfolio are now managed by our in house team.

One final point is that we believe in making high quality homes affordable and that’s why at Saxton, using our relationship with the Government’s Homes and Communities Agency we are offering HomeBuy Direct. It’s a scheme which offers customers an interest free loan for up to 30% of the property’s value, enabling people to buy at Saxton for as little as £70,000 and then staircase into it.

If you’re interested in Saxton or HomeBuy Direct drop us a line at live@urbansplash.co.uk.

Last night me and the gang from Urban Splash, No Chintz and Rejuvenate welcomed more than 100 esteemed guests to our newly fitted out apartments at Albert Mill in Manchester.

It’s the first time we’ve thrown the doors open to the homes which include a loft apartment and a huge two bed, two bath offering, each of which have been designed to a high specification, maximising space and featuring some unique furniture. The evening started with a fashion show, cleverly staged on Albert Mill’s external walkways, watched by guests who were gathered outside under a marquee. We then moved our way around the new show apartments stopping off in each one to collect a drink and goodies including beauty products and some gorgeous cupcakes.

The reaction to the building was superb and people had lots to say about the unique lighting that was supplied by Deadgood as well as the sizes of the homes which take advantage of the depth that this former Victorian Mill provides.

Although we only had two fitted out homes to show at the building last night, there are a further eight in the pipeline so to register your interest, or for a look around the building drop our sales team a line by emailing live@urbansplash.co.uk.

Anyone with an interest in Park Hill has probably had their say this week on the very colourful new additions to the building.

The original building, which was developed in the 1960s, featured distinctive brickwork. Constructed in four bright colours, each row of brick represented a ’street in the sky’ and ranged from plum, terracotta, beige and ivory. As the largest Grade II* Listed building in Europe it was really important that the redeveloped Park Hill retained this distinct element so that’s why we feel incredibly proud to have delivered something that emulates the original form.

Something we’ve also done is to flip the proportions around, changing the windows from two-thirds brick and one-third window in the original building to two thirds glazing and one third solid panel in the modern version, thus flooding the apartments with natural light. These panels are anodised aluminium, a fantastic material, that offers a fabulous sparkle and lustre, which alters in appearance depending on the light levels and the angle they are viewed from.

The most exciting achievement though is that for the first time people can see how the regenerated Park Hill will appear in the future – bright, bold and beautiful! Let us know what you think about the panels below or alternatively register your interest to find out more as the scheme progresses!

This is a blog which was originally published on the Centre for Cities website as part of a series of blogs on the outlook for cities in a new decade.

2010 is the start of the teenage years for Northern Cities and our city policy over the next couple of years will determine how they develop and mature.

Over the last two decades a huge amount has been done in revitalising city centres, the likes of Urban Splash celebrating high quality, contemporary architecture; restoring historic mills and warehouses, bringing people back to live in city centres and reversing the flight of jobs outside of the city. Enlightened local and national Governments have helped build new galleries, theatres and concert halls to spice up the cultural offering.

The city centres of 2010 are unrecognisable from those of 20 years ago. Urban ‘blight’, ‘urban decay’ and ‘urban problems’ have been replaced with new buildings, new residents, new businesses and new cultural offerings. Much has been achieved but these cities are now highly impressionable teenagers who could go in a number of directions. For all the success of the last 20 years in regeneration, there’s still a lack of families and primary schools and other essential services and although regeneration has been completed in core city centres you only have to walk a few hundred yards from them to find a donut of deprivation.

If the cities are to mature, we need to see continuous investment and the creation of real regeneration in the social housing estates. It’s not just a lick of paint, new bathrooms or new kitchens, we need to see genuine ways to tackle Victorian terraces such as Chimney Pot Park, 1960s council estates; such as 3 Towers, the Cardroom Estate and Park Hill and we need to find new financial ways to do this.

The days of regeneration being funded as a spin-off to private sector led development are over for the time being and we need to continue the innovative work of organisations like the Homes and Communities Agency and regional development agencies with whom we can look at new funding models.

There are no easy answers but I hope that the work of Centre for Cities (which I’m proud to Chair) will help the Government and industry better understand how to grow and develop cities through their teenage years to develop into mature, family-friendly, adult cities.

What a lovely evening we had last night at Saxton, our new residential development in Leeds, it really made me feel that Christmas had begun!

It was the first time since we completed the first part of the Saxton scheme that we’d got the old and new residents together. We had planned to huddle around the newly erected Saxton Gardens Christmas tree but typically the rain wouldn’t let up and we all moved inside, although we made sure we still had a view of the tree! In the warmth, we drank mulled wine, ate too many mince pies and sang along to a lovely carol service by the choir from the nearby Mount St Mary’s Catholic School, who we’d invited down for the evening.

We spotted lots of residents – old and new – having a chat and getting to know each other and can’t wait for the return of the next event with everybody next year – we just hope the rain won’t be here then!

If you want to be part of the new Saxton community, have a look at the homes for sale in Leeds at the scheme.

First, we’re looking for a sales liaison officer. Based in our Timber Wharf office in Manchester, we want a bright, chatty, personable candidate who will fit right into our buzzing sales operation. The purpose of the role is to give our customers the right impression from the start and reflect the quality of the home they’re buying with our service! We want someone approachable, chatty, and ready to go the extra mile – or more – to make sure our customers’ experience of buying through Urban Splash is positive from start to finish.

Secondly we need a property manager. This role’s for somebody who’s got the relevant qualifications and wants a new challenge at Urban Splash. We want someone who’s organised and whose meticulous approach to management means that our buildings will remain spick and span! We want somebody who can arrange property inspections, oversee all of our building contractors and cleaners. Our chosen candidate will also be great with people and facilitate and facilitate residents meetings at our schemes; representing Urban Splash and answering all the questions that our customers may have.

So if you, or someone you know, could shine in one of these roles, then visit http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/about-us/join-us/vacancies for more information about the positions, and to apply.

As Christmas is approaching we wanted to treat you to a little insight into what we’ve got coming up in the new year. I’ve been working with architects Maurice Shapero to design a couple of apartments at our Albert Mill development in Castlefield, Manchester.

Albert Mill is one of the last Victorian mills of its kind left in Manchester and we’ve restored the building to create 21 shell apartments and 9,206 sq ft of office, retail and leisure space. Inside the space is amazing! Exposed brick, timber beams and cast iron columns – loft style living at its best. The first residents are enjoying living at Albert Mill, having created their own interiors to suit them, and we have a handful of apartments left.

We were introduced to architect Maurice Shapero during the competition to design the bookend for Tutti Frutti at New Islington. We really liked his work and enlisted him to design a stripped-back one bedroom apartment in a traditional, raw, Manhattan Loft style; and a spacious two bedroom/two bathroom apartment that shows off all of the building’s original features.

Without giving too much away we can tell you that the one bed has a ‘jigsaw door’ theme, and the bathroom has a frosted glass wall backlit by LED lights providing background lighting to the apartment.

The two bedroom apartment has a huge open plan living space with dual aspect; you can really imagine entertaining your friends in this vast area.

Anyway, that’s enough to whet your appetite for now. If you think you would be interested in one of these new apartments drop us a line at live@urbansplash.co.uk to be the first to see them. Otherwise we will be able to reveal all in the New Year.

At Urban Splash, we’re well-known for the outstanding design of our buildings – it’s what sets us apart from other developers (well, that and the amazing, unusual, stunning and ambitious projects we take on). We’re also pretty well-known for our brand, something we’ve been developing and nurturing over the years to give this business something that other companies can only dream of – a strong brand that looks great, has real meaning, and absolutely stands for who we are. As well as the 280-odd awards we’ve received for our buildings over the years, we’ve also been celebrated for our brand and marketing – we were deemed the North West’s Top Brand in 2008, and we were selected as a Superbrand in the same year.

But it’s a brand that doesn’t stand still. We’re constantly evolving, building on our strong foundations but trying new things, stretching the boundaries. That’s what attracted me to Urban Splash in the first place, and what continues to make the Marketing team an exciting place to work.

And now we’ve got an amazing opportunity for the right person. We’re looking for a senior graphic designer to join our team. You’ll be hands-on, producing quality work to our brand guidelines; you’ll also be leading the way, dreaming up new ideas and persuading the senior management team to buy into them. We’ve always been recognised for the great print work our in-house team has produced, but increasingly we’re becoming known for our pioneering online and social media marketing, so you’ll also have a keen interest in this growing area of communications.

If you want a new challenge, the opportunity to work with and mould one of the UK’s most celebrated brands, and to join a lovely team of people who are making a difference in property and regeneration, check out the job description at http://www.urbansplash.co.uk/about-us/join-us/vacancies.

We saw a lot of love for Ducie House in Manchester this week after we made some announcements about office space at the building (£50 per week by the way).

It led to some great stories from people on Twitter and Facebook, all of whom appeared to either love the building, or knew someone who had at one time worked in there. It also became a trend on the What’s Happnin in Manchester blog.

It brought it home to us that Ducie has been the birthplace of some of Manchester’s great businesses like Brazen PR, Ear to the Ground and award winning software company, ANS. It was also the first home of musicians and DJs like A Guy Called Gerald and Manc legends 808 State as well as Simply Red and music producer John Drape.

We’re really proud to have that on our record. It’s something we hope to replicate at new schemes such as Mersey House in Speke and Slater Street in Liverpool.

But in the meantime – thanks to last week’s love-in – we’re really keen to launch a Ducie Hall of Fame blog, so email us at blog@urbansplash.co.uk or Tweet us with your memories, stories – and preferably pictures of the building. Alternatively, jot ‘em down on our Facebook page.

The first residents have now moved into the new Saxton apartments, and they’ll soon be joined by 15 lucky home owners who are able to sign up to the Government’s HomeBuy Direct scheme. If you’re eligible, this means you can own your home for as little as 70% of the value, which could be from £70,000!*

With HomeBuy Direct, you can get a loan (funded by the Government and Urban Splash) for up to 30% of the value of the property and the loan is interest free for the first five years. You will need to fund the other 70% through a combination of mortgage and savings – usually borrowing 65% with 5% as a deposit.* Download a PDF about HomeBuy Direct here or watch our HomeBuy Direct movie here.

Saxton is a fantastic place to live, with spacious apartments, all with full height glazing and high specification. Saxton will also have a private residents’ garden and allotments which will be a great place for you to meet your neighbours. The apartments are located close to the City Centre and its bars, restaurants, theatres and transport links.

To book your appointment to view our fabulous new show apartment contact the sales team or call 0333 666 6000.

*See the legal bit here