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05
Oct
Is North Yorkshire prepared for Labour's dramatic rise in housing targets?
It’s been three months since the Labour government announced a housebuilding drive. Now, the scale of that task is being felt in North Yorkshire.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner revealed in August that the government wants to build 1.5 million homes over the next five years to “correct the errors of the past”.
Under Labour’s proposals, the target for housing in North Yorkshire would more than treble to over 4,000 homes a year.
But, local opposition politicians have met those ambitious targets with concern — in particular over whether the county has the right infrastructure and if the goals are achievable in the first place.
Could North Yorkshire cope with building more homes each year? In this article, the Stray Ferret analyses the government’s proposal and the why it has raised concern.
Hike in housing targets
The deputy prime minister has been tasked with driving the governments housebuilding agenda.
In her first two months in office, Ms Rayner unveiled a plan which she said would set the government “on our way to tackling the housing crisis”.
She went as far as writing to every council leader and chief executive in the country to tell them it was “not just a professional responsibility but a moral obligation to see more homes built”.
Aside from headline policies such as building 1.5 million homes and earmarking the “grey belt” for development, perhaps one of the Labour government’s most crucial policy proposals since July is amending the standard method for calculating housing need.
Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister. Picture: Twitter/X
As part of its consultation on a new National Planning Policy Framework, ministers proposed changing the method to better reflect housing need.
The method is used to measure how many homes need to be built in an area in a year. Following a change in the algorithm, the government now wants to see 370,000 homes built annually — a rise from 300,000 under the previous system.
As a result, the proposed housing need for North Yorkshire has increased dramatically.
The previous method showed 1,361 homes would need to built each year in the county to meet national guidance.
However, under Labour’s desire to ramp up housebuilding, this would sky rocket by 211% to 4,232.
By comparison, neighbouring Leeds would only see its figure increase by 4% — from 3,987 to 4,159.
The dramatic rise was noted by planning consultants Lichfields, which published an analysis of what the changes would mean for local authorities in Yorkshire and Humber.
Matthew Gregg, associate director of the firm, said he expected the government would need to assess how the changes in local housing need would affect the districts in North Yorkshire until a new Local Plan is devised.
He pointed out in his analysis that currently decisions over housing are still based on local need in the seven districts.
Mr Gregg said:
In terms of North Yorkshire, the government has only published a housing need figure for the new unitary authority.
We expect the government will need to publish figures for the constituent former local authority areas in due course as planning decisions currently rely on them until the new North Yorkshire Local Plan progresses.
‘Simply unachievable’
The news over the changes to how the government assesses local housing need has caused concern across North Yorkshire.
Much of the criticism has centred around the need for adequate infrastructure and whether the targets would be achievable in the first place.
Sir Julian Smith, Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, wrote to Ms Rayner to urge the government to work with North Yorkshire Council and Mayor of York and North Yorkshire to “find a solution” for housing in the county.
Julian Smith, MP for Skipton and Ripon.
He added that the current projections were undeliverable and would require significant infrastructure upgrades.
Sir Julian said:
I do not think that the capacity to deliver such a large increase is available, nor required, to ensure local need is met. North Yorkshire is home to two National Parks, which develop their own local plans, and two further National Landscapes where development is restricted.
A significant amount of infrastructure upgrades would also need to take place and I am not convinced these could be completed at a pace that offsets the impact of development.
The concern over infrastructure upgrades is nothing new.
The Stray Ferret has reported extensively on the concerns in the west of Harrogate, in particular over the impact of such homes on doctors surgeries, schools and the local road network.
We have also reported on the upcoming North Yorkshire Local Plan, which will be influenced by the government's new housing targets.
In light of the planning blueprint, which will set out where new houses and commercial developments can be built in the region over the next 15 to 20 years, some councillors have called for no further housebuilding in their area.
Sites earmarked for housing in the West of Harrogate.
Recently, Conservative Cllr John Mann, who represents Oatlands and Pannal, wrote to the council’s executive calling for a moratorium on housebuilding in the west of Harrogate as it faces 4,000 new homes being built up to 2035.
Cllr Mann said he was concerned that the area may have to absorb some of the new homes which will come with the government’s targets.
But, the scale of the government’s housing agenda means that other areas of Harrogate may be forced to carry the load of the thousands of homes that the council has to build.
Tom Gordon, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, told the Stray Ferret that he shared the concern over housing targets, which he described as “simply unachievable”.
He said:
In the Harrogate and Knaresborough constituency, there are already large numbers of houses under construction and due to start construction.
A race to the bottom with developers building on any green space is not what our area needs. There must be a clear plan for a mix of housing including social and affordable options. Arbitrary unachievable targets will not help to deliver this.
Rather than adding hundreds of thousands of additional homes to our market towns, with little to no new infrastructure, I favour new developments where infrastructure can be built in alongside new villages.
‘Speculative piecemeal developments’
The Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council if it had held discussions with the government over the projected housing figures and if it had raised any concern.
In response, Conservative Cllr Carl Les, leader of the council, said the authority was concerned that the planned housing target for North Yorkshire would not be achievable.
He said:
We have responded to the Government’s recent consultation on proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system.
We recognise the need for an ambitious approach to delivering new homes and jobs to meet the needs of our communities, but we are concerned that the proposed annual housing target of 4,232 new properties is simply unachievable.
It does not take into account the large areas of the county covered by national designations such as National Park authorities, which prepare their own Local Plans, and National Landscapes and we would need to see a level of people moving into the area and jobs growth on an unprecedented and unrealistic scale to deliver this level of growth.
Cllr Les added that a failure to meet such a target could lead to “speculative piecemeal developments”, which in turn would mean housing is not delivered in a sustainable manner.
He said:
Failure to deliver against the proposed target may lead to speculative piecemeal developments which limits the extent to which housing can be delivered in a sustainable and coordinated way. We need to make sure development happens in the right places, that essential infrastructure is delivered, that new homes and places are of high quality, and that local communities get their say.
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