A new £36 million extra care housing facility looks set to be built at Cardale Park in Harrogate.

North Yorkshire Council has earmarked a three-acre site on Beckwith Head Road for the facility.

It will provide specialist homes for older people who want to live independently but may need care and support.

The former North Yorkshire County Council purchased the land from Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the district, for £1.8 million in 2022.

At the time, the authority said it had bought the land in order to progress a “scheme to assist with social care market development in the Harrogate area”.

Now, North Yorkshire Council has advertised a contract worth £36 million to design, build and finance the development of an extra care housing facility.

The contractor would also be required to operate the scheme.

The contract includes a start date for September 1, 2027, with a view to the scheme being operational in autumn 2029. It would last for 27 years.

'Key priority'

Cllr Michael Harrison, executive councillor for health and adult services, said previously that the site at Cardale Park was part of a 10-year council programme which aims to "facilitate the development of a wide range of supported accommodation" across North Yorkshire.

In a council report in October 2025, the authority identified Harrogate as a “key priority” for extra care and supported housing provision.

It said:

The land at Cardale Park was previously given approval for a 36-bed mental health facility on the site following the closure of Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Unit.

However, those plans were dropped in 2019 and inpatients on the unit were sent to Foss Park Hospital in York instead.