Construction Begins on 67-Home Canal Walk Development at Former Airedale Mills Rodley After Decades of Vacancy

Rodley Homes starts construction on Canal Walk, bringing 67 homes to a brownfield site overlooking the Leeds-Liverpool Canal that has stood vacant since the late 1970s

Construction has begun on Canal Walk Rodley, a 67-home development on the former Airedale Mills site that has stood vacant for nearly 50 years. Rodley Homes is delivering a mix of apartments and two, three, and four-bedroom houses on the brownfield site overlooking the Leeds-Liverpool Canal and River Aire, adjacent to Rodley Nature Reserve. The scheme received outline planning permission in 2019 and detailed approval in 2023 after working closely with Leeds City Council and the Canal and River Trust. Canal Walk Rodley will bring a prominent West Leeds site back into use for the first time since the late 1970s, when the 19th-century textile mill structures were last operational. The first homes are expected to complete in 2027, with the full development finished by 2028.

Why This Matters For Leeds

Canal Walk is small compared to the recently announced developments of South Bank or Lisbon Street, but it shows housing delivery in Leeds extends beyond the city centre into communities like Rodley. The WYCA £334 million Housing Investment Fund prioritises brownfield sites and Canal Walk is exactly what that programme targets. For west Leeds, 67 new homes on a long-vacant industrial site alongside the canal develops the future character of a neighbourhood.

What Canal Walk Rodley Will Deliver

The development sits between the Leeds-Liverpool Canal to the south and the River Aire to the east, with Rodley Nature Reserve immediately adjacent. The mix of apartments and houses has been designed to respond to the waterside setting, with residents benefiting from canal-side walks, traffic-free cycling routes, and proximity to local amenities in Rodley village. Kim Linell, sales director at Rodley Homes, said the company is proud to be bringing it back into use. She described Rodley as offering a relaxed village feel while being just a short journey from Leeds city centre. An open house and show home launch for prospective buyers is planned for October 2026.

“After years of planning it’s fantastic to see construction begin at Canal Walk. This is a site that has stood vacant for decades so we’re proud to be bringing it back into use and giving it a new future.”

— Kim Linell, Sales Director, Rodley Homes

Brownfield Delivery Beyond the City Centre

Canal Walk adds to a growing pipeline of brownfield housing delivery across Leeds. The 82-home Hough Top development in Pudsey, delivered by Willmott Dixon with WYCA brownfield funding, demonstrated what targeted investment in previously developed sites can achieve. The WYCA £334 million Housing Investment Fund approved last week prioritises brownfield and grey belt sites across West Yorkshire. While the headline projects in that programme focus on Leeds South Bank’s 20,000 homes, smaller schemes like Canal Walk are equally important in demonstrating that regeneration reaches communities beyond the city centre.