Subscribe to trusted local news
If you are accessing this story via Facebook but you are a subscriber then you will be unable to access the story. Facebook wants you to stay and read in the app and your login details are not shared with Facebook. If you experience problems with accessing the news but have subscribed, please contact subscriptions@thestrayferret.co.uk. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
- Subscription costs less than £1 a week with an annual plan.
Already a subscriber? Log in here.
05
Apr
Councillors ‘serious concern’ over council-owned housing company fall in sales
Opposition councillors have raised serious concerns after North Yorkshire Council’s housing company’s sales fell by £7 million in three years.
Brierley Homes, which was founded in 2017, is part of the Brierley Group of 12 companies owned by the council.
The company, which oversees housing developments in the county, has come in for criticism from councillors for being reliant on council loans to help its cashflow issues.
The council’s most recent decision in March saw it approve a £300,000 draw down from a £27 million loan facility for the firm.
On multiple occasions, the authority has cited the need to allow the company time for sales to be received as a reason for approving further funding.
Fall in sales
The Stray Ferret has obtained sales income figures for the last three financial years, which shows income at Brierley Homes falling by £7 million.
According to the figures, which includes property and land sales, deposits and purchaser’s extras, the company recorded £12.3 million in 2022/23 which then fell to £5.2 million in 2024/25.
Brierley Homes sales income figures over the last three financial years. Data: North Yorkshire Council.
The data, which was obtained via a Freedom of Information request, also shows that Brierley Homes is expected to make £7.4 million in sales income in 2025/26.
The figures raise questions over the company’s reliance on council loans when its sales have fallen over the last three years.
According to the Freedom of Information response, the company currently has £27.5 million in loans to repay to the council.
Conservative council leader, Cllr Carl Les, has previously refused to rule out further support for the company as it would be “unwise” and would “not be prudent”.
‘Cause for concern’
Opposition councillors have said the fall in sales figures combined with the reliance on loans for cashflow raises “serious cause for concern”.
Cllr Steve Shaw-Wright, leader of the Labour group on North Yorkshire Council, told the Stray Ferret he was “very concerned” about the figures.
He said:
I am very concerned about the figures quoted regarding falling sales at Brierley Homes. The downward trajectory in income, coupled with the ever‑increasing level of debt owed to North Yorkshire Council, is a serious cause for concern.
My view has always been that if Brierley Homes were focusing their efforts on delivering social housing — or better still, new council homes — there would be far less to worry about. We have an ever‑growing waiting list for council properties across North Yorkshire, yet the council appears increasingly fixated on competing with private house builders rather than addressing the urgent need for genuinely affordable homes.
Cllr Shaw-Wright added that a change in direction for Brierley Homes was “long overdue”.
Cllr Andy Brown.
Meanwhile, Cllr Andy Brown, a Green and Independent councillor for Aire Valley, said the company needed to be monitored closely.
He said:
It is great that North Yorkshire Council are building council houses as this is much needed. It is, however, vital that any enterprise the council engages in is efficiently run and doesn’t end up costing residents a lot of money when hopes don’t turn into realities.
Brierley Homes continues to need close monitoring to ensure that it delivers homes without delivering financial losses
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council why the company’s sales figures had fallen over the three financial years and whether it was confident that the income could improve in order to repay its loans.
The council said the sales figures were an issue of timing and projection of sales linked to build profiles rather than lost sales.
It added:
"We are confident that moving forward the company will be on a stronger footing with a more realistic delivery pipeline that will enable repayments of the council loans."
Reliance on council loans
The move comes as Brierley Homes has come under scrutiny from councillors over its reliance on council loans.
In September last year, senior councillors backed a proposal to increase a £25 million council loan facility to £27 million to provide Brierley Homes with further financial headroom.
Gary Fielding, the council’s director of resources, said at the September meeting that he would receive weekly cashflow reports from the company as part of “additional due diligence”.
He said the weekly reports would “ensure there is stronger due diligence” into the firm.
Meanwhile, in July 2025, the council also granted a £1.4 million loan to the housing company to assist it with cashflow while it delivered affordable housing and to "allow the company time for sales to be received”.
The council said the loan, which is separate to the loan facility, will be repaid with base rate interest instead of on commercial terms.
But, the move was criticised by Cllr Kevin Foster, leader of the Green and Independents group on North Yorkshire Council, who questioned how the council could justify further money for the company.
0