York has fallen woefully short of its target for building affordable homes.
Planners said the city needed to provide 2,865 affordable homes over the last five years (2014/15-2018/19).
Instead it had only delivered 522 by March 2019. That’s a shortfall of 2,343.
| Year | Affordable housing homes built | Right To Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 2013/14 | 50 | 53 |
| 2014/15 | 139 | 52 |
| 2015/16 | 109 | 68 |
| 2016/17 | 90 | 79 |
| 2017/18 | 74 | 72 |
| 2018/19 | 60 | 60 |
| Total | 522 | 384 |
And this figure was further offset by 384 ‘right to buy’ sales, taking other affordable homes off the market – which gives a net total of 138 new affordable homes in the five year period.
The report says: “Positively, there were 24 new affordable homes delivered during the first quarter of 2019-20 which indicates that the full year total for 2019-20 could be higher than the previous year.”
It also reveals that “the number of homeless households in temporary accommodation in total has risen from 49 in 2017-18 to 66 in 2018-19”.
The figures are revealed in a report going to the housing and community safety policy and scrutiny committee of City of York Council which meets on Monday (27 January).
Housing costs soar
While annual earnings rose by just 2.5% in the city between 2014 and 2018, house prices increased by 25%.
Private rents for a one-bedroom flat have gone up by 10.6% in that time, and for a two-bedroom flat by 11.5%.
| Median data for City of York (ONS / VOA) | 2014 | 2018 | % increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual earnings | £25,880 | £26,522 | 2.50% |
| Monthly earnings | £2,157 | £2,210 | 2.50% |
| House price | £188,000 | £235,000 | 25% |
| Affordability ratio* | 7.26 | 8.86 | n/a |
| Private rent (monthly): 1 bed | £565 | £625 | 10.60% |
| Private rent (monthly): 2 bed | £650 | £725 | 11.50% |
| 2 bed rent as % earnings | 30% | 33% | n/a |
| LHA** 1 bed | £445 | £430 | -3.40% |
| LHA** 2 bed | £525 | £535 | 1.90% |
And they are continuing to rise. We reported on Wednesday how York had the third-fastest rising rents of cities in the UK.
The report also outlines the council’s plans to improve the housing situation – see below.
The council’s future housing plans
locations.
Goals agreed in July 2018 by the council’s Executive mean our Housing Delivery Programme will build:
- high-quality homes designed in collaboration with the local community
- accommodation suitable for a wide range of households, meeting a full range of affordable housing
- shared open spaces, sociable neighbourhoods and community cohesion
- homes with higher than required environmental attributes (resulting in lower running costs)
- healthy places where people want to live.
Our ambition is to create a wide-reaching legacy for the city which builds on York’s rich history as a housing pioneer, developing treasured homes in green and healthy neighbourhoods.
Our Housing Delivery Programme will deliver mixed communities where:
- 60% of homes will be for sale on the housing market (providing funds towards development costs of affordable housing)
- 40% of the homes will be affordable homes, including shared ownership and rented council housing.
Source: Housing Needs and availability update, City of York Council