Leeds Jewish Housing Association wins top prize at Northern Housing Awards

Leeds Jewish Housing Association (LJHA) has been named Landlord of the Year at the Northern Housing Awards 2026.

The prize – regarded as the blue ribband category in the much sought-after awards – is open to housing associations, councils and related organisations across the North of England “that do more than simply provide a roof over people’s heads.”

In their final adjudication, the Northern Housing Awards judging panel said they were “deeply impressed” by LJHA’s “commitment to community, inclusivity and tenant wellbeing.”

The judges added: “Their resident-centred approach, innovative support services and strong partnerships demonstrated a landlord genuinely focused on improving lives and supporting independence across its communities.”

The trophy was presented to senior LJHA representatives at an evening ceremony in Manchester.

Founded in 1953, LJHA is an established Jewish-led community based Registered Social Housing Provider.

It is committed to providing and maintaining sustainable community housing, focusing predominantly on the needs of the local Jewish community, but working with and welcoming people from all communities.

LJHA has more than 500 properties in its portfolio and provides a mixture of homes for individuals, families, older people and shared ownership.

It will shortly expand this number with a stunning new development of 28 affordable homes, the second phase of a two-part scheme which is due for completion this summer.

In the past 12 months, LJHA achieved a customer satisfaction rating of 82.9% in an all-tenant survey. This surpassed the sector average across all 12 categories in which questions were asked including the quality of homes, response time to complaints, anti-social behaviour, repairs and maintenance, home safety, communications and cleanliness.

Interviewed after receiving the Landlord of the Year award, Mark Grandfield, LJHA Chief Executive, said: “To be recognised by industry peers is special, but being nominated as the greatest social landlord in the North of England is even better because we’re adding real value to the communities we serve.”

Asked what makes LJHA great, Mark added: “I think we have 35 staff who go that extra mile all the time”.

Andrew Pliener, Chair of the LJHA Board, commented: “LJHA exists to provide services for our residents and help build a thriving Jewish community.

“This award, voted for by a panel of industry experts, validates all the hard work the organisation is undertaking and is great recognition of the efforts of our staff.”

Niki Yoshua, Chair of LJHA’s Resident Consultative Group, said: “A lovely evening and a proud moment. This award is for the tenants as well, many of whom work tirelessly together with LJHA towards achieving a fantastic housing association.”