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11
Mar
‘We have no choice’: Councillors vote to cut affordable housing at three Harrogate sites
Councillors have voted to cut the number of affordable homes at three housing sites in Harrogate.
The sites, which have already received outline planning permission, amount to 1,184 houses and form a major part of a housebuilding drive in the west of Harrogate.
At a meeting in Northallerton today (March 11), councillors on North Yorkshire Council’s strategic planning committee considered reducing the affordable housing requirement on sites at Whinney Lane, Lady Lane and Beckwith Head Road.
Council officers said the move will help to deliver the schemes and meet newly imposed housing targets.
The sites included:
- 224 homes on Whinney Lane
- 480 homes on Whinney Lane and Lady Lane
- 480 homes off Otley Road and Beckwith Head Road
The move means the affordable housing requirement for the three sites will be reduced from 40% to 35%.
It means that the total number of homes classed as affordable across the schemes will fall from 473 to 415.
Sites earmarked for housing in the West of Harrogate.
The changes comes as the council commissioned Leeds-based property consultants, Aspinall Verdi, to carry out a viability review of the three sites.
Alex Robinson, delivery and infrastructure officer at the council, said in a report that the review was carried out after applicants and council officers became increasingly concerned that the burden of infrastructure costs “would stall the delivery of the sites”.
He added that the assessment of the sites found that reducing the requirement was “appropriate and necessary” and would help to contribute to new housing targets set by government.
Mr Robinson said:
Officers have been mindful of the significant infrastructure costs associated with bringing forward these strategic sites at West Harrogate.
The council commissioned a viability exercise to test the deliverability of the sites set against agreed infrastructure costs, changes in economic cost factors and national planning guidance.
This evidence has been assessed by offices from across the council (planning, delivery and housing) and a reduction in the affordable housing requirements for the West Harrogate applications is deemed reasonable, appropriate and necessary to assist housing delivery.
‘We have no choice’
At today’s meeting, Cllr Andy Brown, who represents Aire Valley division and sits on the planning committee, said councillors had little choice but to approve the amendments.
He added that while he was disappointed to see the affordable housing cut, the council had little choice but to press ahead with the scheme.
Cllr Brown said:
In reality, we have got our arm up our back here and have absolutely no choice. The numbers in the report add up and to me illustrate that there is sufficient evidence to question the 40% viability.
Cllr Andrew Timothy, who represents Stray, Woodlands and Hookstone division, said he was against the proposed cut and called on councillors to reject the planned decrease.
He added that the committee “should not be in habit of second guessing itself” on planning decisions.
However, councillors voted for the affordable housing requirement to be cut at each of the three sites.
It comes as up to 4,000 homes are being built or awaiting planning permission in the west of Harrogate, including schemes on Otley Road, Whinney Lane and Yew Tree Lane.
Much of the housing was earmarked for the area in the Harrogate District Local Plan, which assessed a need for 16,077 new homes in the district up to 2035.
However, the council is now under increased pressure to deliver more housing amid the Labour government’s housebuilding drive.
The reforms come at a time when the council is also drawing up a new Local Plan. Richard Flinton, chief executive of the council, claimed the hike in housing targets without a plan could leave the authority susceptible to "speculative" schemes.
As a result of the government’s changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, North Yorkshire’s housing need has increased to 4,077 a year — it had previously been 1,361.
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