Leeds City College will gain 1,500 new student places after its parent organisation, Luminate Education Group, completed the acquisition of Livingstone House at Leeds Dock, backed by £8 million in Government funding. The deal, advised by property consultancy JLL, transforms a landmark office building vacated by Yorkshire Water in 2023 into a dedicated educational campus for the city’s largest further education college.
The £8 million in central Government funding is part of a wider package directed at areas experiencing significant growth in their teenage population, with the Department for Education allocating money specifically to expand post-16 capacity. Leeds City College, which employs around 2,300 staff and has an annual turnover of approximately £78 million, has been operating at maximum capacity for several years, according to Bill Jones, chief executive of Luminate Education Group. “Further education colleges have been sounding the alarm over increasing numbers of 16-to-18-year-olds for some time now,” he said, noting that the college’s longest waiting lists have been for health and care courses.
The 71,000 sq ft building, located at Leeds Dock between the college’s existing Printworks and Quarry Hill campuses, will be transformed in phases. The first phase will accommodate 300 health and social care students, with the campus opening to students in September 2026. Joanna Gabrilatsou, regional head of planning at JLL, said the application provided “the opportunity to bring a vacant office building back into use within the Leeds Dock area” and that the new site is a response to growing demand for further education accommodation. The change of use application for educational purposes was approved in December 2025, with JLL’s planning team securing the consent.
Lease restructuring unlocked the deal
The most complex element of the acquisition was restructuring the existing 127-year leasehold interest that Yorkshire Water held on the building. The lease structure, which had been in place for over a century, was fundamentally incompatible with educational use. Luminate Education Group needed to secure changes that would allow the building to operate as a college and ensure the group would be compensated if the superior landlord, Allied London, sold its interest in the future. Allied London, which acquired Leeds Dock in 2012 and transformed it into a hub for tech, media and creative industries, entered administration during the final stages of the negotiations, adding further complication.
Lee Conroy, regional lead for lease advisory at JLL, explained the significance of the restructuring: “Restructuring the ground lease was fundamental to unlocking this opportunity for Luminate. The existing lease structure simply didn’t work for educational use, and we wanted to ensure Luminate were duly compensated if the superior landlord sold their interest in the future. Despite the added complication of Allied London’s administration during the final stages of the project, we successfully secured the changes needed. The agreement triggers the release of central government funding, allowing the building to be reimagined for educational use.”
The leasehold restructuring required detailed negotiations not only with Yorkshire Water but also with Allied London, which as superior landlord had to agree to the revised terms. JLL’s lease advisory team led the talks, ensuring that the new arrangement made the financial and operational case for the Government funding viable. Without the restructuring, the acquisition would not have proceeded.
Transforming a vacant landmark for growing student demand
Livingstone House, a prominent office building at Leeds Dock, had stood vacant since Yorkshire Water left in 2023. Its conversion into a college campus fits a broader trend of repurposing empty commercial properties to meet educational needs and revitalise city-centre areas. The Leeds Dock area itself has undergone significant regeneration under Allied London’s ownership, evolving from a struggling retail destination into what the company calls a “vibrant waterside community” and Creative District, now home to more than 60 businesses in the creative, media and digital sectors, including Sky’s Digital HQ. The new campus will increase footfall in the area and contribute to its ongoing revitalisation, said Gabrilatsou.
The demand for additional post-16 places in Leeds is acute. The Office for National Statistics estimates the 16-to-18-year-old population will continue to rise until 2030, and Leeds City Council has already welcomed £10 million in central Government funding announced in April 2025 to create more learning spaces. Luminate Education Group, which also runs University Centre Leeds, Leeds Sixth Form College, Keighley College, Harrogate College and Leeds Conservatoire, has been actively expanding its estate. Its £27 million Mabgate Campus development, a flagship centre for adult education, reached its topping-out stage in March 2025.
Bill Jones said the new facility at Livingstone House is a direct response to capacity pressures: “This investment is extremely welcome, representing a positive step toward ensuring sufficient supply of post-16 opportunities for young people in Leeds and the wider region in the years ahead. Given some of our longest waiting lists have been for health and care courses, this new facility will allow us to provide more young people the opportunity to train into vital roles across our health and care system.” The health and social care sector, one of the fastest-growing industries in the UK, faces critical shortages driven by an ageing population, increased demand for elderly care and disability support, and the lingering effects of the pandemic.
