YORK is in a housing crisis. Why are we not building when we can sell homes well in this city?

Some of the fault lies with those responsible for planning. Councillors say they are helping; they are not. They reduced affordable targets from an unsustainable 50 per cent to an equally unsustainable 35 per cent. It’s not enough. This is way too much in a recession.

The solution is a new take on dealing with housing delivery, starting with planning. We can do nothing about national economics but we can make York attractive to builders.

We need to cut red tape. Don’t charge ludicrous sums per bedroom for educational allowances/public open space/highways improvements/new bus stops which add to the costs. Other councils realise this, York does not.

We need to reduce the affordable housing ratios as 35 per cent of nothing is nothing. Who can afford to build with those percentages?

Let’s cut through the political spin and call this what it really is – subsidised rented housing, not cheaper homes to buy.

Without a radical rethink there will be virtually no new mainstream housing built. Developers have been saying this for years but have not been listened to.

John Reeves, Chair, The Helmsley Group, Monks Cross, York.