Cheaper homes need rockets as backlog grows

The shortfall has been confirmed in the North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment, commissioned by the North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Partnership, to look at the needs of the county over the next five years,

It follows an investigation by the Yorkshire Post into the growing numbers of families stranded in overcrowded and unsuitable homes every year.

Despite the levels of need, local authorities across Yorkshire are still falling woefully short of annual affordable home building targets, with a growing tension between councils and developers.

Following this week’s publication of the North Yorkshire Strategic Housing Market Assessment, housing chiefs are now pledging urgent action to help address the backlog.

Coun Richard Foster, chair of the Local Government North Yorkshire and York Housing Board, said: “Housing markets and communities’ housing aspirations don’t follow local council boundaries.

“This study will help us to understand what type of housing North Yorkshire people require now and in the future, so we can plan properly to meet that need.

“We will use the research findings to make sure that we get our housing plans and planning decisions in our local areas right.”

The report also confirms the challenges for providing homes for North Yorkshire’s ageing population – with older people living in large family homes finding it difficult to downsize – as well as highlighting that many young families are struggling to enter the housing market.

The growing shortfall is having the greatest impact upon young families in rural areas, with affordable homes targets needing to be revised on the North York Moors and a planning strategy for the Yorkshire Dales to permit converting decaying farm buildings into cheap homes currently out for public consultation.

However, the failure to meet affordable housing need has also spread to Yorkshire’s major cities where families are now being forced to live together in unsuitable overcrowded homes on a scale experts say has not seen for more than 50 years.

In York, 108 affordable homes have been built in the first two quarters of this year despite an annual need of 790.

Sheffield Council says 165 affordable homes were built last year despite an annual need of 729.

Overall in North Yorkshire, where soaring house prices have placed it at the sharp end of the country’s affordable homes crisis, only 377 affordable dwellings have been built in the first six months of the last financial year despite an annual need of 2,808 over the next five years.

Meanwhile, East Riding Council calculates just 69 affordable homes – classed as houses below market cost available for rent or sale – have been built over the same period despite a requirement of 1,008 a year up to 2016.

The new housing market assessment found the county’s population has risen by 5.7 per cent since 2001, with York, Selby and Harrogate having the highest levels of household growth.

It also discovered that while high house prices continue to make it difficult for households with lower incomes to get on the housing ladder in North Yorkshire, almost 40 per cent of older people said that they wanted to downsize to smaller accommodation.

There is a particular shortfall of one and two bedroom homes, and larger four or more bedroom properties suitable for families in North Yorkshire.

The findings will now be used to support every North Yorkshire council’s Local Development Framework – the development plan for each area used to guide future housing developments.