OFFICIALS and campaigners have clashed over the impact of a decision to relax requirements for affordable homes in smaller developments.

The Government has announced it will no longer be necessary to provide affordable housing on the vast majority of sites of less than 10 homes.

A group of York businessmen who have been campaigning against affordable housing thresholds set by City of York Council claim the move will allow small housing schemes to go ahead, after having previously been rendered unviable.

Quantity surveyor Paul Cordock said the threshold had been acting as a constraint on small housebuilders.

Developer John Reeves of Helmsley Group said he had a site in Ryedale for five which he would immediately bring forward, which had not been worth it before and which included a 2-bed home at the bottom end of the pricing scale.

"It will be interesting to see if more sites come forward with this restriction removed," he said.

But deputy council leader Tracey Simpson Laing said there was extreme concern about the 'devastating' affect the new policy would have on villages, particularly in the North York Moors National Park.

"There is deep concern that this will affect their communities and the ability for young and lower wage families to remain to live and work in the areas," she said.

Her cabinet colleague Dave Merrett said the threshold for unaffordable housing contributions in York had been set at 15 units for a good number of years.

The Rural Services Network said the Government's decision was a huge blow for rural communities, as affordable housing was key to retaining young people in rural communities.

Mike Slater, assistant director of planning and sustainable development , said planning, legal and housing officers were presently considering the implications of the changes in relation to both policy and the consideration and determination of planning applications, including a number of applications which had yet to be determined, and officers would be briefing councillors on the changes very soon.