The sale of land at Elland Road could attract £2bn of private investment to the city as the council presses ahead with the move.
Leeds City Council said the redevelopment of the site could include 2,000 new homes.
The Labour-run council is set to sell 30 acres of land around Leeds United’s stadium, which is itself set to redeveloped under plans by the club.
The land sale would be made to a joint venture company set up by the club and Lowy Family Group (LFG), an investor in United’s owners 49ers Enterprises. Peter Lowy, one of the Principals of LFG, is a Board member at LUFC.
The stadium is set to be expanded to a capacity of 53,000 after Leeds secured planning permission.
Deputy council leader Jonathan Pryor, speaking at an executive board meeting yesterday (11 March 2026) said:
“The development of Elland Road and disposal of this land will hugely benefit the local area.”
Cllr Pryor said funds raised from the sale would be used for infrastructure projects in the city.
Councillors agreed in principle to press ahead with legal agreements with the joint venture company to make the sale possible.
The council justifies the one to one sale on the grounds that Leeds United already own land in the area and “the interface
between stadium event day operations and delivery of surrounding regeneration.” For example phasing the building projects to tie in with the reprovision of match day parking.
The price for the land sale will be set by an independent RICS ‘Red Book’ valuation.
Alan Lamb, Conservative group leader, said similar stadium projects had benefited communities in Liverpool and Manchester. But he was concerned about the Leeds project after plans for a £2.5bn tram system for the city were delayed.
Coun Lamb, who represents Wetherby, said:
“The one elephant in the room in all of this is the impact of mass transit.”
Coun Pryor said the Elland Road plans were not contingent on delivery of the transport scheme. Council leader James Lewis said:
“The reality is, work is happening on developing the tram.”
A council report said plans for the Elland Road land could include a community sports arena and education facilities. It said:
“This provides a long-term vision for the regeneration of the site and aims to position the location as an exemplar in sports and transport-led regeneration. It is envisaged that over £2bn of investment could be secured.”
Commenting on the decision, Councillor Andrew Scopes (Labour, Beeston & Holbeck) said:
“The journey for the redevelopment of the Elland Road area could be really good for our area, if it is done in the right way and they stick to the commitments around dealing with matchday parking and making the environment better for everyone across Beeston, Holbeck and Cottingley Hall.“With the same people owning the football club and developing the area, I’m optimistic that managing matchdays (including parking) will be incentivised (as it could impact on the value of the properties).”
This post was written by Don Mort, Local Democracy Reporter, with additional reporting by Jeremy Morton
Photo: Google
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Utterly ridiculous. Increase stadium capacity, then sell off all the car parks? We’ll need more car parks not less.
Surely such a big decision should be the subject of a debate by the entire 99 councillors. Why the rush to push things through without looking into the impact of car parking on match and event days on the streets of Beeston and holbeck