A £7 MILLION scheme to build up to 70 new council houses in York has been unveiled.

Six sites have been identified for the properties: Fenwick Street; the former waste tip at Beckfield Lane; Chaloners Road; Hewley Avenue; Newbury Avenue and York Road in Haxby.

The plans are to go before City of York Council’s cabinet on May 7.

The authority says the scheme would help ease the need for council housing in the city, with £6 million coming from reserves held in the housing revenue account.

The cabinet will be asked to allow a mix of homes to be built on the site which once housed the Beckfield Lane tip, including 12 for sale on the open market “to help offset costs to the public purse”.

Between 50 and 70 council homes would be built by mid-2015.