Chapel Town: Meet the community who built homes that don't cost the earth

From million-pound fundraising to eco-friendly homes with rock-bottom bills—how one Leeds street proves communities can beat the housing crisis together

Our Fair Future has teamed up with Antidote to bring you stories of people building a future that works, and they’re doing it in communities just like yours, showing what’s possible when we take charge together.

Forget greedy developers and sky-high rents—a group of neighbours in Chapel Town, Leeds, have built their own answer to Britain’s housing nightmare.

On a quiet street in the heart of Chapel Town sits a radical experiment in co-housing—a bold new way of living that puts people before profit. Instead of lining the pockets of landlords, this community-driven project has created warm, modern homes with tiny bills and eco-friendly designs that, as the residents proudly say, “don’t cost the Earth”.

At the centre of the street lies a shared garden and communal kitchen—places where residents gather not just to cook and eat together, but to build friendships that go far deeper than the usual neighbourly nod over the garden fence.

And it’s working. Chapel Town’s co-housing scheme has been hailed a “massive success story” after locals raised over £1 million themselves—not from big banks or faceless corporations, but from a patchwork of community loans, starting from as little as £3,000. Investors get a modest 3% return, with rent helping pay back the loans.

But it’s about more than money. Here, neighbours are not just neighbours—they’re friends, collaborators, and problem-solvers. From lending a hand in times of need to tackling shared projects side by side, the residents say working together has helped them see past differences and discover what they truly have in common.

As Britain’s housing crisis deepens, many are now asking: could this little street in Leeds be pointing the way to a fairer future for us all?

Watch the video below to find out more.