Affiliated to the national charity Civic Voice, its stated purpose is "to stimulate public interest in and care for the beauty, history, and character of the city and locality, to encourage high standards of design, architecture and town planning; [and] to encourage the development and improvement of features of general public amenity".

Other activities include operation of an extensive blue plaque scheme across the city, and the annual organisation of Heritage Open Days at local sites.

It is based at 17–19 Wharf Street, a mid-Victorian shop premises in The Calls area of the city centre, now serving as its office and bookshop.

As part of similar modernisation, old buildings in the city centre, Hunslet and Holbeck were "swept away regardless of their historic value",[2] and the 1964 demolition[3] of Gilbert Scott's Beckett's Bank on Park Row proved one too many.

[6] The Trust avoided conflicts of interest between conservationists and developers by encouraging property owners to seek advice on renovating their buildings and obtaining grants.

[6] It also began to outline a vision of improvements to the city; in 1979 Olav Arnold presented a conference pitch in which he declared Boar Lane a "disaster zone" and the Inner Ring Road "just a litter track", and advocated for a new image as a tourist centre to challenge York and Harrogate, building on undeveloped rough sites, reviving the canals, and more parks and trees.

[9]The Trust works with Leeds City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Business Improvement District (LeedsBID), and other partners on many projects while maintaining a "critical friend" relationship with these and other stakeholders.