Representatives of some of North Yorkshire’s most economically challenged communities have raised fears access to affordable housing could fall of a cliff edge, amid claims a Tory-led council is putting developers’ profits before the needs of residents.
Ahead of councillors pushing forward proposed minimum affordable housing ambitions of five, 10 and 20 per cent for developments in different areas of Selby district, a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council saw one councillor issue a £1,000 bet challenge that no developer would exceed the minimum.
Indpendent councillor John McCartney, who represents the Osgoldcross area near the former Kellingley coal mine, issued the challenge.
He highlighted how proposed revisions to the Selby Local Plan development blueprint mean proposed 109-home estate featuring just eight social housing units and “a pathetic” three starter homes.
Cllr McCartney told the Conservative-led administration: “You used to be the party of home ownership. Well you’re not now.”
The meeting was told the county was facing a housing crisis and that more social housing for rent and starter homes for young people to buy was desperately needed.
The authority was also accused of allowing developers to dictate how many affordable houses would be delivered.
Scarborough councillor Tony Randerson said developers were being ”given the green light to print money while failing to deliver the required number of social and affordable homes”.
He said in Scarborough borough alone there were “at least 2,000 people without a permanent roof over their heads”.
Cllr Randerson added: “This in my view colleagues is the start of the erosion of targets across North Yorkshire.”
Deepening housing crisis
In response, the authority’s open to business executive member Cllr Derek Bastiman said the affordable housing requirements in the emerging Local Plan for the Selby area remained the same as those put forward by Selby District Council in 2022.
He said the 40 per cent affordable housing target in Selby’s existing Local Plan was “no longer supported by the evidence”.
Cllr Bastiman said the minimum affordable housing figures had been based on an independent viability study and that evidence pointed towards the figures being a good balance between the needs of communities and viable housebuilding projects for developers due to changes in the economic climate.
The meeting heard the Tory-led authority was working as hard as it could to provide as many affordable homes as it could across North Yorkshire.
Cllr Bastiman added: “Without a plan being in place all we’ll get is housing being delivered by spec[ulative] builders without the correct supportive services and infrastructure.”
He said an updated Selby Local Plan was needed to provide housing for residents in a planned way and the affordable housing targets met the right balance between residents’ needs and viability for developers.
However, the meeting heard economic circumstances upon which the affordable targets were about to be set may change in a couple of years, resulting in housebuilding firms’ bosses getting “eye-watering bonuses” and a deepening housing crisis until the adoption of a North Yorkshire-wide Local Plan.
Kellington Parish councillor Mary McCartney told the meeting the proposed five to ten per cent targets for affordable housing were “ridiculous”, adding : “Local Plan policies should not be made for short-term reasons. The 40 per cent target is just that. A target.”