Housing Archives - Page 17 of 48

Council set to buy 11 homes for Afghan refugees in Harrogate area

North Yorkshire Council has been offered £1.3m from the government to go towards buying 11 homes for Afghan refugees in the Harrogate area.

Thousands of refugees have come to the UK from Afghanistan since the withdrawal of US troops and the return to power of the Taliban in August 2021.

The government has been offering councils money to help house the refugees in secure properties through its Local Authority Housing Fund (LAHF).

A report will go before the authority’s Conservative executive next week that says it has been allocated £1.34m in the latest round of funding.

If the council decides to accept the money, it will provide 60% match funding worth £1.68m to buy the properties, taking the overall cost to £3.1m.

Last year, Harrogate Borough Council received £2.5m from the same fund to help buy 21 homes for Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

The borough council, which was abolished in March, came to an agreement with a local housing association to provide the match funding but this time NYC is set to borrow the money through its own general fund.

This report says this will give the council greater control over the choice and location of properties and that it can best ensure that the needs of the refugees, and future tenants, are met.

According to NYC’s refugee resettlement manager, there is a need for more properties in the Harrogate area based on links to existing services that support the Afghan community.

The homes must be bought before March next year and could be a mix of former council homes, new builds or other properties on the open market.

Rent will be at affordable rates and the council expects to generate £118,225 in annual rental income.

The report adds:

“The acquisition of additional homes for Afghan refugees will help alleviate pressure on the council and ensure the council is playing its part in supporting government to meet national commitments toward Afghan refugees.”

Interest rate rises will affect Harrogate least, says property expert Kempston-Parkes

This story is sponsored by Kempston-Parkes.

As concern grows across the country following the latest rise in interest rates, Harrogate’s foremost chartered surveyor says he’s confident the market will remain largely unaffected in our area.

Last week, the Bank of England raised interest rates to 5% – a level not seen since 2008, when the global financial crisis hit. As a result, mortgage lenders have been withdrawing deals and raising their rates ahead of a predicted peak of 6% later this year.

But Andrew Kempston-Parkes, of Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors, said:

“A lot of people seem very fretful about the housing market at the moment – there’s a lot of bad news in certain sections of the press. But what I’m seeing here in Harrogate and the surrounding areas is that sales are still going ahead.

“Interest rate rises don’t seem to be having much effect here, and Harrogate and Knaresborough still have a very strong market. Those agents that are busy are very busy, and the houses that are coming to market are still selling.”

Mr Kempston-Parkes said the town and its surroundings had so many “pull” factors that the local property market would be able to weather any storm arising from the 0.5 per cent rate increase.

He said:

“In my career I have seen four sets of rises in property values and four sets of falls in property values (‘booms and busts’, if you are a certain tabloid newspaper), but the long-term trajectory is upward.

“And whatever happens in terms of a fall in value across the country, Harrogate and district has always been affected least and we have always recovered to the high level of values, quicker than anywhere outside of London. Our property market is resilient.”

He said the area has high levels of employment, good schools and a clean environment, meaning that plenty of people still want to settle here from other places.

Mr Kempston-Parkes added that with six trains a day to King’s Cross, London is very accessible for commuters for those working in the capital for two or three days a week.

He added:

“Despite Menwith Hill being significantly rolled back in terms of personnel, it still contributes the Harrogate’s housing market, not least because most of the housing up there has been demolished. That means there are a lot of base personnel in the rental market, which in turn supports the general housing market.”

Mr Kempston-Parkes earned his professional qualifications form the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 1997, and founded Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors in 2011. It now employs 15 people from its offices in central Harrogate.

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Kempston-Parkes Chartered Surveyors provide surveys and valuations for all purposes, including purchase, inheritance tax, capital gains tax, matrimonial assessments, boundary disputes and Land Registry plans.

For more information, go to www.kempston-parkes.co.uk, or for a confidential conversation about your requirements, call 01423 789111.

New housing scheme proposed in Ripon

A developer has submitted plans to build 14 new homes in Ripon.

Manchester-based Atzaro Box Clever Ltd has tabled the proposal to North Yorkshire Council for land off Athelstan Court.

It would see 14 new home build on land next to a former office building.

The office block, which stood empty for 10 years, has since had approval to be converted into 16 flats.

Designs for the new houses on Athelstan Court.

In documents submitted to the council, the developer said the move to build the new homes would be a “natural extension” to the newly approved flats.

It said:

“The council have since accepted a change of use for the conversion of Athelstan Court into residential apartments.

“The remainder of the site would therefore be a natural extension of the residential use across the full site.”

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Pannal’s controversial ‘skyscraper’ begins to take shape

An apartment block that will replace the now-demolished Dunlopillo offices in Pannal is beginning to take shape.

Plans submitted by Echo Green Developments to build 38 flats on the site at Station Road were approved by Harrogate Borough Council in February 2022.

However, it will be two-storeys taller than the previous structure which led to ill feeling in the village. Pannal historian Anne Smith said residents would be lumbered with a “skyscraper-type building”.

The decision to approve the scheme was made at officer level and without a vote from councillors.

The frame of the new building.

This provoked Conservative MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Andrew Jones to say the now-abolished council made a mistake with the process by not putting the application before the planning committee.

But the plans weren’t considered by councillors because the application was made under permitted development rights, which were brought in under the Conservative government and can be used by developers to fast track the redevelopment of disused offices.

Cllr Howard West, chairman of Pannal and Burn Bridge Parish Council, said at the time that planning officers “made errors” and that the parish council had written to the government about it.

How the building will eventually look.

It ultimately led Harrogate Borough Council to launch an internal review into how it handled the application.

The review found it should have acted quicker and a “longer period of time than ideal” was spent on parts of the process.

It also said residents should have been consulted sooner and this could have allowed time for a vote from councillors. Despite this, the council concluded the plans were still “appropriately considered”.

The former Dunlopillo building

Dunlopillo – which makes pillows and bedding – moved out of the site in 2008 when the company went into administration and its former office building fell into disrepair, with residents describing it as a “monstrosity”.

Other parts of the vast site have or currently are being redeveloped, including the construction of the Vida Hall Care Home which opened in 2013 and a residential development by Bellway Homes.

Staff at troubled Ilke Homes told they will be paid this month

Staff at Ilke Homes have been told they will be paid in full this month as the company continues to find a buyer.

The modular housing manufacturer based at Flaxby, alongside the A1(M), filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators last week.

The company said the move was due to financial difficulties caused by “volatile macro-economic conditions and issues with the planning system”.

Staff were told to stay at home on June 9 while the company tried to resolve the situation.

The lack of apparent progress in the 18 days since has heightened concerns but in an email, seen by the Stray Ferret, staff have now been told they will be “paid as normal” this week and that payslips will be available on Wednesday.

The email, sent by chief executive Giles Carter, added the company continued to “pursue all angles to secure a long-term future for the business”.

Last week, the Stray Ferret reported that the company had been offered to potential buyers for bids over £1, and some major housebuilders have been approached.

At the time, any bids for the business were to be submitted before the end of the week, when the firm’s existing backers would decide the firm’s future.

The Stray Ferret asked Ilke Homes today whether any bids for the company had been lodged since it filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

A spokesperson said:

“Talks with potential investors remain ongoing.”

lke Homes said previously it needed additional funding to fulfil a £1 billion order book and to protect jobs, adding that new investment was needed to build its pipeline of 4,200 new homes.

The company specialises in modular housing built in its Flaxby factory and then put together on site in a process that saves time and costs, reduces carbon emissions, and is not weather-dependent.

Earlier this month, the company told most of the nearly 1,000 employees at its 250,000 sq ft factory not to come into work until further notice.

Ilke Homes was established in 2017 and opened its Flaxby factory the following year. Since then, it has built up a client base that includes major institutional investors, housing associations, developers and local councils.

Residents demand progress on west Harrogate infrastructure plan

Residents’ groups in the west of Harrogate have expressed “total dissatisfaction” with infrastructure improvements in the area.

Seven parish councils and residents’ associations shared their frustrations with the lack of progress as thousands of new homes are built.

They said they had been promised a draft document almost a year ago but were yet to see it, or any other progress.

Rene Dziabas, chairman of Harrogate and Pannal Ash Residents’ Association, spoke on behalf of the groups at North Yorkshire Council‘s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee last week.

He said:

“At the time, we expressed the view that much of this work came over as incoherent and lacking any real structure. We were assured that a complete infrastructure strategy and associated delivery schedule would be made available in October of last year.

“Council representatives assured us that these documents would include clear objectives, clear deliverables, timings, supporting data and financial costings. This was a council commitment, not one initiated by us as stakeholders.

“Yet here we are in mid-2023 and the latest position is that consultants are still looking at the viability of what previous consultants have proposed.So far we have seen no hard detail whatsoever in relation to the infrastructure strategy and delivery schedule and no offer of meaningful engagement with the community.

“Recent correspondence would seem to indicate further delays therefore our overall concern is that this work when it eventually emerges will deliver an ineffective and inadequate package.”

Mr Dziabas said there were 4,000 new homes being built around the west of Harrogate, “the equivalent of a small town”.

Residents were concerned about the impact not just on roads, but on medical facilities, schools, buses and other infrastructure.

He said the local plan, which sets out where development can happen, was being put together more than a decade ago, yet there had been no changes to infrastructure to cope with the building that had already taken place.

He added:

“The reality is that we are now some years on and we see nothing that convinces us that there’s any sort of plan in place that will help to mitigate strains on the infrastructure to the west of Harrogate.”

In response, NYC’s planning and transport departments issued a joint statement, which was read out by meeting clerk Mark Codman.

It said the local plan and related documents set a “clear framework” for development, while section 106 agreements with developers were used to leverage investment for infrastructure improvements.

A review and costings exercised had been commissioned by the previous councils, it said, and would provide “clarification and certainty”. It added:

“The complex nature of the work means it is not yet complete. Officers are prioritising this work, however the nature of strategic projects does sometimes involve unforeseen delays.”

Cllr Chris Aldred, who represents High Harrogate and Kingsley for the Liberal Democrats, said he was in agreement with the residents.

He recalled hearing a similar call for progress at a meeting a year before, and said he was frustrated to be in the same position now. He added:

“Really, we do need to get our act together on these matters, because people are living in a state of flux where nothing is happening and it’s not fair to the residents.

“I strongly want the executive to get on top of this. I know we’ve had the distraction of local government reorganisation and eight councils into one, but that has now been achieved and we really need to move on with these matters.

“i don’t want to be sitting here in a year’s time and having similar presentations from parish councils.”

Plan to convert former Ripon dentist into flat

A plan has been lodged to convert a former dentist in Ripon into a flat.

The proposal, which has been lodged by Wilkinsons Properties Ltd, would see the former W&B Dental practice converted.

The dentists was formerly based at 12 High Skellgate in the city.

The practice has since moved to Phoenix Business Centre.

Under the plans, the first floor property would be converted into a one-bedroom flat and be accessed from High Skellgate.

North Yorkshire Council will make a decision on the plan at a later date.

Councillors call for building moratorium in Bishop Monkton over flood fears

Councillors have called for a moratorium on building houses in Bishop Monkton until Yorkshire Water reveals if and when it intends to modernise its waste water system.

North Yorkshire councillors expressed disbelief that as a statutory consultee to a proposed housing estate in the village, near Ripon, the water firm had given the green light, despite its engineers having condemned the village’s sewage system as inadequate for current needs.

Members of the Skipon and Ripon planning committee heard even when rain was “moderate” human waste could be seen on the village’s streets due to a lack of sewage capacity and the water firm had given an undertaking to state when, in its forthcoming 25-year plan for the area, the issue would be rectified.

Cllr Nick Brown, a Conservative who represents Wathvale and Bishop Monkton, told the meeting how he and six of his parishes, including Bishop Monkton, had pressed Yorkshire Water over when it would act to end floods of sewage on the streets.

Cllr Nick Brown

He said during moderate rainfall Bishop Monkton’s combined sewer became overwhelmed and was discharged into the beck at the bottom of the village.

The meeting heard councillors question when Yorkshire Water last objected to a development and that it had a commercial interest in seeing its customer base increase, while having no duty to make corresponding improvements in sewage systems.

Officers warned councillors if they refused the proposal to build up to 23 homes off Knaresborough Road due to the village’s ongoing sewage issues it would be harder to defend an appeal against the decision because Yorkshire Water had not objected to it.

Skipton councillor Robert Heseltine said:

“Until they put their house in order there shouldn’t be any more building.”

Ripon councillor Andrew Williams added:

“Which business is voluntarily going to turn down 23 extra customers, knowing there is no regulatory control on Yorkshire Water? There is no obligation on Yorkshire Water to improve what is already a profoundly dissatisfactory situation.”

The meeting also heard there were concerns raised over the removal of a hedge, which some villagers claim dates back to 1816, the impact of the development on a grade II listed church and conservation area and in particular about road safety.

Councillors unanimously voted to defer a decision over the development to get details from Yorkshire Water over when it planned to upgrade the village’s sewage system, as well as to talk with highways officers and the developer over safety and environmental concerns.

After the meeting, North Yorkshire Council leader, Cllr Carl Les, said he hoped Yorkshire Water would answer councillors’ questions over its plans, adding:

“Clearly there are concerns about capacity in the system as well as over discharges into rivers.”

In response to the concerns, a Yorkshire Water spokesperson said the application was on land allocated by the council for development, and it was “not a statutory consultee on applications of this nature and unable to refuse connection to our network”.

The statement added:

“Under the application, the developer will be separating surface water and foul waste, limiting the amount of additional wastewater entering the network.

“We are aware of some issues with the network in the area, but many of these are linked to blockages and infiltration of surface water into the network during heavy rainfall. We have investigated the sewers in the area and are looking at options to add increased storage to alleviate issues during heavy rainfall.”

Government rejects Sharow pub housing plan

A government planning inspector has rejected a plan to convert the Half Moon Inn at Sharow into a house.

The pub on Sharow Lane opened in 1822 but closed in 2016.

Mark Fitton, owner of the pub, lodged a plan to convert the former pub into a house in March last year.

However, Harrogate Borough Council refused the proposal on the grounds that “insufficient evidence” had been submitted to demonstrate that no community use existed for the property.

Mr Fitton took the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, the body that deals with planning disputes.

However, Susan Hunt, a government planning inspector, turned down the plan on the grounds that there was a “reasonable prospect” of the facility continuing on a viable basis.

Ms Hunt said in a decision notice that while a plan by residents group, Half Moon Pup Group’s, to save the facility was in its infancy, it represented a “reasonable prospect” of making the pub viable.

She said:

“Overall whilst the HMPG’s business plan is in its infancy, from what I have seen and heard regarding their intentions I am satisfied that there is a reasonable prospect of the continuation of the existing public house use.”

Mr Fitton had challenged the council’s decision on the grounds that there was evidence to demonstrate that “no community use exists for this property”.

The decision comes as Harrogate Borough Council upheld a decision to allocate the Half Moon Inn as an asset of community value in February this year.

The council awarded the pub asset of community value status in November 2022 following a campaign by local residents and the parish council to keep the venue open.

23-homes plan in Bishop Monkton recommended for approval

Council officials have recommended that a plan to build 23 homes in Bishop Monkton is approved next week, despite 127 letters of objection.

The proposal, which has been tabled by Kebbell Development Ltd, would see the houses built on land off Knaresborough Road in the village.

The site is opposite the grade-II listed Church of Saint John the Baptist.

Councillors on Skipton and Ripon constituency planning committee will consider the application at a meeting on Tuesday.

Officers at North Yorkshire Council have recommended councillors approve the plan, which would see a mixture of two, three, four and five-bedroom homes built at the site.

In documents submitted to the council, the developer said the scheme would create a “sustainable development with a unique character that responds to the surrounding context”.

However, the proposal has been met by 127 letters of objection from local residents. It received one letter of support.

Bishop Monkton Action Group raised concern that the scheme would affect surface water drainage, increase flood risk and impact upon the sewerage system.

Meanwhile, in a letter to the council, Bishop Monkton Parish Council said:

“The existing drainage network in St. John’s Road is at full capacity and cannot take further input.

“The sewage works down Boroughbridge Road appears also to be overloaded as records show it discharges raw sewage into the River Ure on a regular basis presumably because of the extent of the combined sewers in the village.”

But case officer Kate Broadbank’s report concludes:

“Whilst there will be some level of harm to the conservation area and setting of the listed church, this has been assessed as being less than substantial harm with this being outweighed by the public benefits of the provision of housing, including affordable housing, and the provision of a level path, which connects the village to the playground.”

She recommended approval subject to 29 conditions being met and a section 106 agreement, which developers pay to compensate for infrastructure associated with their schemes.

The agreement says the developer would have to pay £40,000 towards the village hall, the cemetery, the boules club and the playground.

It would also have to pay £12,635 either to the council or a management company as financial security for ongoing maintenance of on-site public open space and £35,000 to the village hall.

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