Ambitious plan includes building new council homes across North Yorkshire

A view of Swaledale with Reeth in the distance. A priority of the draft housing strategy is to address rural housing needs.

An ambitious new strategy to deliver thousands of homes that meet the needs of communities across North Yorkshire is being developed.

The draft North Yorkshire Housing Strategy provides a framework for housing policies and projects to be undertaken by the unitary council over the next five years.

It includes proposals to tackle homelessness, meet the needs of the ageing population, increase the supply of affordable and available housing and improve the energy efficiency of housing, which would reduce fuel poverty.

It aims to deliver at least 12,685 new homes – of which 4,000 properties will be affordable – over the next five years. And a council housing growth plan will be drawn up to include increasing the authority’s existing stock of 8,500 homes.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for housing, Cllr Simon Myers, said: “This is the first housing strategy of the new North Yorkshire Council and outlines our vision for housing across the county, our priorities and the actions we will take.

“North Yorkshire contains diverse housing markets, with varying housing needs and many challenges, but local government reorganisation has given us a once in a generation opportunity to transform services, drive innovation and improve outcomes for our communities and the people who need the most help.

“We will take a proactive approach to housing delivery, and we will develop a bold plan to deliver more homes, including more affordable properties over the next five years.

“We will use the new combined strength of the unitary authority and the advantage of being a stockholding council to unlock greater resources, access funding opportunities and accelerate housing growth and regeneration, ensuring that we deliver sustainably, and develop inclusive places.

“We are an ambitious council, keen to deliver excellent housing services and be an exemplar social landlord.”

The draft housing strategy follows three key themes – our people, our places and our homes – which look to focus on the following areas:

· Preventing and tackling homelessness.

· Meeting the needs of the ageing population.

· Meeting supported housing needs and the needs of specific groups.

· Growing the supply of affordable and available housing.

· Addressing the rural housing crisis.

· Supporting communities through neighbourhood renewal and regeneration.

· Decarbonising homes.

· Ensuring that new housing supply contributes to the council’s net zero ambitions.

· Addressing stock condition issues.

· Ensuring that council stock remains of a decent standard and continues to improve.

That consultation will run for around two months starting next month (October), and more details will be posted on northyorks.gov.uk when it is launched.