Homes England has not ruled out delivering five per cent fewer affordable homes than originally advertised on a major brownfield regeneration site in York.
Speaking at a committee meeting on Monday, November 27, City of York Council corporate director of place Neil Ferris admitted that Homes England - the government's housing and regeneration agency - could “theoretically” deliver just 15 per cent affordable homes, rather than the 20 per cent advertised, on the massive York Central site.
The project is a 45-hectare site which promises 2,500 homes, 1m sq ft of commercial space and 6,500 jobs, and will contribute an estimated £1.16bn to York’s economy.
But the council has also pledged to deliver 100 per cent affordable housing for its developments, which can give Homes England some flexibility with how much it delivers.
The leader of the Liberal Democrat group at the council, Cllr Nigel Ayre, said: “It’s 20 per cent affordable across the whole site, therefore if the council delivers 100 per cent affordable [housing] then that would drop it to probably somewhere around 15 per cent affordable [housing] requirement across the rest.
“That percentage would decrease.
“The developer could, within the planning permission, deliver fewer affordable homes.”
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Mr Ferris said that “theoretically they could” but added that “I think there’s a degree of pragmatism that needs to be taken about Homes England’s ambitions for delivery of higher levels of policy, but clearly you are right in absolute terms.”
Responding to whether they could assure that 20 per cent of homes would be affordable, a spokesperson for Homes England said: “The affordable housing across York Central site is to be delivered in line with the requirements of the outline planning permission and the S106 agreement and all landowners have to comply with this.
“The exact details within each phase will be subject to future reserved matters planning applications submitted to the City of York Council.”
Cllr Kallum Taylor said 20 per cent affordable homes is “absolutely woeful for publicly owned land” and asked if there is any scope for the 20 per cent figure to be increased, but was told there was not.
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