North Yorkshire Council Draft Housing Strategy 2024-2029

North Yorkshire is the largest county in England and Wales, at over 8,000 square kilometres.The population is approximately 620,000, similar to major cities such as Leeds and Sheffield. However, the population density is 77 people per square kilometre, compared with the national average of 432 per square kilometre. This means that we are mostly rural with only two towns (Harrogate and Scarborough) having a population of over 50,000.

Here are some more key housing facts:

• population: 619,542
• population grown by 2.85% since 2011
• 25% of the population aged 65 or over
• working age population has fallen by 2.6% since 2011
• number of households: 274,381
• average number of persons per household: 2.24 - this is down from 2.33 in 2011
• 27% of housing stock built before 1919
• 18.7% of households rent privately
• average house price: £284,000
• average household income (after housing costs): £28,448
• average rent: £730 per calendar month
• over 108,000 residents limited by health and disability

Housing and access to good quality affordable housing is critical to individual and community wellbeing. In strategic terms for the council, housing is also:

• a driver for sustainable and inclusive economic growth
• central to ensuring that our communities are sustainable and inclusive
• vital to delivering our climate change ambitions and our net zero targets.

Within the North Yorkshire Council Plan (2023-2027), delivering “good quality, affordable and sustainable housing that meets the needs of our communities” is a key ambition of the new council. The Housing Strategy aligns with other key strategies within North Yorkshire including:

• Climate Change Strategy
• Economic Development Strategy
• Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• current Local Plans and future North Yorkshire Local Plan
• York and North Yorkshire’s Devolution Deal

How we link with our strategic partners and work together is crucial to the council meeting its housing objectives. We have a wide range of key partners including Homes England, the emerging Mayoral Combined Authority, Registered Providers, alongside our local voluntary and community sector, delivery partners, and communities.

Homes England has recently published its new Strategic Plan (2023-2028) which puts a strong emphasis on levelling up, regeneration and on building a ‘housing and regeneration sector that works for everyone, driving diversification, partnership working, and innovation’. We will work alongside Homes England to develop action plans that deliver for our communities.

There are some big challenges in North Yorkshire that affect our residents and communities, and impact on housing:

• an ageing population
• significant inequalities in health and social outcomes
• sparsely populated rural communities and pockets of deprivation
• a low wage economy
• housing affordability and access to good quality homes
• improving the energy efficiency of our housing stock and reducing fuel poverty
• the impacts of climate change on our population and communities

Additionally, the COVID pandemic harmed our housing markets, exacerbating housing availability and affordability challenges.

It also highlighted long-term pressures linked to entrenched deprivation, the erosion of support infrastructure and the lack of supported housing.

We now face a ‘cost of living’ crisis, the impact of which we are only just starting to feel.

Despite the challenges, there are some great opportunities available to us.

We have an opportunity to deliver housing growth both through working in partnership and by expanding our council housing stock. Working alongside partners through the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, we will look to develop a Housing Growth Plan and shared housing pipeline for the partnership area that links in with the housing aspirations of the Devolution Deal for York and North Yorkshire. Devolution presents opportunities to deliver housing at pace and meet our wider economic growth ambitions. The creation of a Mayoral Combined Authority and the new powers that this will bring, will also be a driver for our housing and economic growth ambitions.

Our aspirations for housing over the next five years, include:

• consolidating the Housing Revenue Accounts - bringing together council owned homes, sites and landlord services; putting high management standards, safety, and involving our tenants at the heart of what we do
• developing a Housing Growth Plan, which will include growing our own council housing stock
• exploring the housing development potential of publicly owned land, including council owned sites
• working with the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership to deliver the right homes in the right place, retrofit our homes, and invest in employment opportunities, including green skills
• delivering on our commitment to be carbon neutral by 2034 and the economic opportunities that brings
• realising the potential efficiencies of being one council; in particular, working with health and social care colleagues to meet the needs of vulnerable residents, enable capacity and reduce pressure
• using our capacity as a landlord and housing enabler to tackle inequalities, especially around health, social and digital exclusion, by coordinating and targeting resources, intervention, and support to best effect

Whilst acknowledging that there are risks, we are confident that by working together with our partners we can realise these aspirations. We have:

• a combined reputation for developing and delivering quality affordable homes
• a strong track record of partnership working with Registered Providers to deliver affordable homes that meet a variety of needs
• demonstrable success in attracting government funding to deliver homelessness prevention, private sector housing improvements, enable rural housing, and rough sleeping reduction
• experience in working closely, through our locality structures, with communities and community led organisations to provide housing to meet local needs

Homelessness is a growing problem across North Yorkshire, exacerbated by the pandemic, and the on-going cost of living crisis. In addition, the supply of affordable housing in both the private rented and social rented sectors has significantly declined in the last three years. Despite these challenges we have achieved some successes in preventing homelessness, by taking proactive approaches to prevention and seeking innovative accommodation solutions.

As significant pressure remains, with sharp rises in the number of homeless assessments in some areas (Craven locality: increased by 71% from 2021 to 2022; Richmondshire locality: increased by over 250% from 17 to 60 in same period).

By far the biggest impact has been on the increased use of temporary accommodation for homeless households and the consequent increase in spending. As an example, within Scarborough, the cost of providing temporary accommodation increased from £281,000 in 2019-2020 to £1.1 million in 2021-2022. The use and cost of temporary accommodation is likely to continue to rise, as more households are threatened with homelessness and a reduced supply of “move-on” accommodation in both the private and social rented sectors.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• bringing together homelessness prevention and support services across North Yorkshire to tackle homelessness, using a range of prevention tools, best practice, and interventions to prevent homelessness
• delivering new, innovative and existing accommodation solutions, including new temporary housing, and improving support and access to services
• doing all we can to reduce rough sleeping in North Yorkshire as much as possible, helping people live independent lives off the street
• undertaking a full Homeless Review, leading to a new Homelessness Strategy by 2025

Currently one in four of our residents is aged 65 and over. The proportion of over 65s is predicted to increase further, with one in three of our residents expected to be 65 and over by 2035. Crucially, the number of over 85 year olds, who are more likely to use our services, is expected to grow by over 50% during the same period. We will need to develop our housing offer to ensure that it meets the needs of our growing older population.

We have had a successful Extra Care programme over the last 20 years, which has seen the provision of new Extra Care schemes in virtually all of our main settlements. We need to continue to develop similar services and also look at new models of Extra Care and other specialised housing for older people.

We recognise that we cannot meet all needs through the provision of new specialist accommodation and many older households will choose to remain living in their own home. Our Home Improvement Agencies will be essential ensuring that as many older residents as possible are supported to live independently.

We know that some of our council housing stock, which was developed specifically for older people, is not fit for purpose anymore and is becoming hard to let. We will update this stock to ensure that it meets the needs of our older households.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• updating our extra care offer to meet changing needs, including developing new models of extra care to accommodate smaller schemes in rural areas, supporting those with complex needs, including working age people with learning and physical disabilities, as well as people with dementia
• working with health and social care colleagues to ensure a holistic approach to meeting the needs of older people
• updating our own homes to provide improved specialist and adaptable housing for older people

Supported housing needs vary across North Yorkshire and include the needs of those with physical and learning disabilities, and residents with mental health issues. 17.5% of residents in North Yorkshire were limited in some way by a health or disability. Whilst some residents with support needs will seek some form of specialist accommodation, many will want to remain living in their own homes.

For those with physical disabilities the council’s Home Improvement Agencies in conjunction with health and social care are well placed to support people living independently, including through the use of Disabled Facilities Grants. Better integration with health and social care is key to ensuring that we meet other supported housing needs, including learning difficulties and mental health needs, as well as families with children with disabilities. The council now has a great opportunity to marry up its resources to meet all supported housing needs.

The retention of a structured housing pathway for care leavers through a joint partnership with Children and Young Peoples Services is a priority; ensuring that this is resourced effectively going forward.

We will continue to meet the housing needs of our gypsy and traveller communities, through the provision of both high quality and easily accessible sites and support services.

A more recent challenge has been the resettlement of refugees and asylum seekers across North Yorkshire. In parts of North Yorkshire, refugees and asylum seekers have been located in hotels and other temporary accommodation. As these communities begin to settle in local neighbourhoods, there is a need to support them to secure more permanent accommodation and provide on-going support services.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• ensuring better integration of health and social care in line with the Start Well – Live Well – Age Well approach community based preventative pathways
• enhancing home improvement services to ensure that homes can be adapted to meet the needs of residents
• working together to deliver a more efficient and effective Young Peoples Housing Pathway
• helping residents to live independently with the aid of assistive technology, including undertaking an options appraisal of all available service delivery models
• supporting refugee resettlement pathways and support services via a dedicated refugee resettlement team
• ensuring that the housing needs of gypsy and traveller communities are met

Parts of North Yorkshire have some of the least affordable housing outside the South East of England, with property price/household income (after housing costs) ratios averaging 10 times across the whole of North Yorkshire in 2021, even reaching 13 times in the Harrogate locality. The average house price in North Yorkshire had risen to £284,000 in October 2022, an increase of over £100,000 in 12 years.

Affordability is exacerbated by North Yorkshire’s low wage economy; median annual pay is as low as £20,000 in some locations, significantly below the national average of £26,000. This means that fewer local households can afford to purchase a home on the open market and are reliant on other forms of tenure. We understand that a lack of access to affordable housing acts as a barrier to economic growth, as well as putting pressure on the delivery of essential services as those on lower income struggle to access housing within our high value constrained housing market and we are committed to increasing the availability of affordable housing.

Home ownership levels are high in North Yorkshire with almost 70% of households owning their own home (England: 63.75%). By contrast social rented housing accounts for less than 12% of our households (England: 16.6%). In some localities (such as Craven, Harrogate) it is less than 10%. As a result, we have a chronic lack of affordable housing, particularly in some of our most expensive places to live.

We understand that a lack of access to affordable housing acts as a barrier to economic growth, as well as putting pressure on the delivery of essential services as those on lower income struggle to access housing within our high value constrained housing market.

“Our places” are also affected by growing shortages of affordable private rented housing. The attractive nature of North Yorkshire makes it a popular holiday destination. Since the COVID pandemic the demand for ‘staycations’ has risen, which has resulted in an increase in the levels of short-term holiday lets. Decreasing numbers of private rentals result in higher demand and rising rents, making private rented homes less affordable to would be renters on low incomes. It is also severely affecting the overall supply of residential housing in locations such as Whitby, Filey, coastal villages and much of our National Parks. As a result, we urgently need to increase the supply of affordable housing.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• delivering at least 2,537 new homes per year across all tenures, including a minimum of 802 new affordable homes each year - we will also look at how we can work with our partners through the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership to deliver the affordable homes that we need
• developing an ambitious Council Housing (Housing Revenue Account) Business Plan, which will include growing the council’s housing stock
• working with the Mayoral Combined Authority and City of York Council to develop a Housing Growth Plan and supply pipeline, as well as deliver the Brownfield Housing Fund allocation
• pursuing opportunities to bolster housing supply (temporary and permanent) in the medium to long term by working with new partners such as the Ministry of Defence, and One Public Estate
• maximising all sources of funding to support affordable housing viability and boost delivery
• reviewing all our land assets to identify land that could be used for new housing (affordable and market homes)
• developing our affordable housing delivery model, ensuring that we capture the best delivery models and develop them further to enhance affordable housing supply
• working with partners, including the Mayoral Combined Authority, to better understand the need for key worker accommodation across North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire is the largest geographical county in England covering 3,000 square miles of predominantly rural terrain, where 35% of our population live.

Only 2% of our localities are urban but these areas accommodate 65% of our population. There are only two towns with a population in excess of 50,000. All other towns have a population of less than 25,000.

• 85% of North Yorkshire is super-sparse: 17% of our residents live in a super-sparse area
• 13% of North Yorkshire is sparse: 18% of our residents live in a sparse area
• 2% of North Yorkshire is urban: 655 of our residents live in an urban area

Sparsely and super-sparsely populated communities present a challenge in terms of inclusion and community sustainability, as well as service delivery. In sparsely populated rural areas people can experience physical and digital isolation with difficulty accessing services, jobs and transport links. Housing is more expensive within these areas, both to rent and to buy, and affordable housing supply is limited. We know that rural poverty is often hidden and the financially vulnerable are dealing with higher cost of living increases, fuel poverty and insecure employment. A lack of digital connectivity and the persistence of ‘not spots’ exacerbates exclusion and disadvantage in our rural areas. More rural affordable with better connectivity is essential to ensuring inclusion and the sustainability of our rural communities.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• supporting the Rural Housing Enabler Partnership and Community Led Housing groups – to ensure a supply of housing is maintained, of the right quality, type and tenure in rural areas
• keeping sufficient focus on affordable housing supply in our rural communities
• working with key partners to ensure that rural affordable homes are digitally enabled
• working with the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, the Mayoral Combined Authority, and Homes England to develop an enhanced rural affordable housing supply pipeline, and ensure that there is sufficient investment to deliver the homes needed

Whilst most of North Yorkshire is relatively affluent with low levels of deprivation, there are some very high concentrations of deprivation. A significant part of Scarborough town is within the most 10% deprived neighbourhoods in the country, and 85% of North Yorkshire’s most deprived residents reside in Scarborough, with further pockets of high deprivation in Selby and Harrogate. The levels of deprivation are in line with those of inner-city metropolitan locations.

Contributing to the levels of deprivation are:

• a low wage economy
• high levels of households reliant on benefits
• low educational and skill levels
• a poorer physical environment
• significantly high concentrations of private rented properties (over 50% in inner Scarborough)

There is a need to develop a holistic neighbourhood renewal approach to address these issues in partnership with other key service areas (planning, economic development, environmental services, and health) and external partners.

North Yorkshire has some major strategic regeneration projects and priorities, including the redevelopment of Catterick Town Centre, where £19 million Levelling Up Fund investment is regenerating the town centre. This investment has the potential to unlock significant future brownfield housing sites within Catterick. There are significant regeneration projects within Selby and new settlements being created at Maltkiln (between 3,000 and 4,000 new homes), and Ripon Barracks (1,300 new homes). These projects are catalysts, not just for the delivery of housing but generating economic growth and key infrastructure improvements that will benefit the whole of North Yorkshire.

Tackling empty homes will also support regeneration in local neighbourhoods and will provide more homes for local households, including more affordable homes. Whilst the proportion of long-term empty homes across North Yorkshire is roughly similar to the national average at just over 1%, this is still over 3,000 empty homes. There are slightly higher proportions of empty homes around Skipton and Malton.

Regeneration in Selby

The latest census data shows Selby had the highest percentage increase in population of any local authority in Yorkshire and Humber between 2011 and 2021 with over 10% growth.

Within Selby itself are two major brownfield housing allocations at the former Rigid Paper site (330 homes) and ICL (450 homes), together with the adjacent Selby Station Quarter regeneration area, which also has scope for redevelopment for residential uses. This suite of sites can provide a new urban village of around 1,000 homes next to the town’s rail and bus stations, which themselves are being transformed through the £28 million Selby Station Gateway project.

Heronby (south west of Escrick) is the proposed new settlement in the most recent Selby District Local Plan (3,387 homes by 2065).

At Eggborough, an allocation remains for 1,500 dwellings by 2048. This mixed use development will comprise of residential, open space and education.

In addition, the Cross Hills Lane site at Selby is allocated for 1,270 dwellings by 2043 This will be a mixed use development, comprising: residential, open space, community and local shopping facilities and education.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• developing an approach to neighbourhood renewal for our most deprived neighbourhoods
• working with key partners to support communities through projects that will improve their local environment
• working in partnership with the Mayoral Combined Authority and Homes England to drive strategic regeneration projects across North Yorkshire
• developing a new Empty Homes Strategy to bring long term empty properties back into use

In North Yorkshire over 27% of the housing stock was built before 1919 (England: 21%). Older housing stock is often less well insulated and less energy efficient due to its construction, making it more difficult to improve. This in turn is a contributory factor to fuel poverty - over 15% of our households were recorded as being in fuel poverty in 2020. With rising energy costs and wider costs of living increases, the proportion of households experiencing fuel poverty is likely to rise.

In North Yorkshire, 18.7% of households privately rent their home, which is just below the national average of around 19%. There are higher levels of privately rented properties in Richmondshire (21%) and Scarborough (22%), with very high concentrations (over 50%) in parts of Scarborough. Privately rented stock tends to be older, has a higher rate of non-decent homes, and a higher proportion of lower income households. There will also be higher rates of less energy efficient privately rented stock and, consequently, higher proportions of households in fuel poverty.

Work has already started to retrofit the council’s housing stock, with work underway in the Harrogate locality to retrofit homes with an EPC E or F rating to bring them up to an EPC C rating. However, a comprehensive plan for all our council homes needs to be developed to ensure all properties meet EPC C rating.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• developing a social housing decarbonisation plan, with the aim of getting all our council homes to achieve EPC C and up to Decent Homes Standard (when the target date is announced by government)
• working with our Registered Provider partners and Homes England to implement investment plans to make their homes warmer and more affordable to live in
• attracting government funding to improve and decarbonise our private sector housing homes

Ensuring that all new homes are built to high energy efficiency standards and contribute to our net zero ambitions is also crucial to achieving our climate change aspirations. Whilst progress has been made in recent years in uplifting the energy efficiency of new homes built, the recent introduction of Part L (conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations, which came into force in 2022, and the proposed implementation of the Future Homes Standard in 2025, should contribute positively to these aspirations. Ensuring new homes are built to high energy efficiency standards will help ease energy costs during the current cost of living crisis.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• implementing new Design Codes to ensure an increase in the quality of new housing, working towards the Future Homes Standard and Nationally Described Space Standards
• ensuring that all new council homes are built to Future Homes Standard and meet EPC C as a minimum with a net zero carbon aim
• supporting our Registered Provider partners to meet net zero carbon ambitions in the delivery of new affordable homes

Ensuring that all new homes are built to high energy efficiency standards and contribute to our net zero ambitions is also crucial to achieving our climate change aspirations. Whilst progress has been made in recent years in uplifting the energy efficiency of new homes built, the recent introduction of Part L (conservation of fuel and power) of the Building Regulations, which came into force in 2022, and the proposed implementation of the Future Homes Standard in 2025, should contribute positively to these aspirations. Ensuring new homes are built to high energy efficiency standards will help ease energy costs during the current cost of living crisis.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• implementing new Design Codes to ensure an increase in the quality of new housing, working towards the Future Homes Standard and Nationally Described Space Standards
• ensuring that all new council homes are built to Future Homes Standard and meet EPC C as a minimum with a net zero carbon aim
• supporting our Registered Provider partners to meet net zero carbon ambitions in the delivery of new affordable homes

The English Housing Survey (2021-2022) shows 14% of all homes were deemed non-decent. Within the private rented sector the proportion is higher at 23%. Based on these figures, it is estimated that approximately 38,500 of all our homes are non-decent, of which almost 12,000 will be privately rented.

The level of resources needed to tackle the issue is challenging, especially in the private rented sector. We have successfully bid for government funding to set up a Pathfinder project to increase resources in our Private Sector Housing Renewal teams, with special focus on locations where resources have been scarce previously.

We will undertake an assessment of the private rented sector across the whole of North Yorkshire, in the form of a “State of the Nation” report. This will provide an overall assessment of the private rented stock and market, which will inform future strategic planning and help us to target resources appropriately.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• producing a private housing stock condition baseline and a retrofit action plan to inform future investment
• tackling stock condition issues, improving poor quality housing across all tenures
• working with the Mayoral Combined Authority to deliver the Carbon Abatement Pathway
• using our legal powers to enforce and raise standards in the private rented sector - taking a consistent and firm approach to raising housing standards, including the further development of selective licencing schemes

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Managing 8,500 council homes, we are a major social housing landlord. We want to ensure that all of our residents live in a decent home. Whilst the vast majority of our stock meets the Decent Homes Standard, we know that just over 200 of the homes within our stock are classed as Non-Decent (LAHS:2021-2022).

As well as bringing the current non-decent homes up to the Decent Homes Standard we will invest in an improvement programme to ensure that our homes are the highest standard possible. We know that some of our housing stock may no longer be fit for purpose. We need to appraise the stock and ensure that it meets modern standards, including installing digital technology to suit modern needs.

The recent case of a child’s death, elsewhere in the country, caused by damp and mould in their social home, has led to increased regulation of safety in social housing. We will tackle any mould and damp issues in our properties effectively and ensure that we have a plan and resources in place to respond to all complaints of damp and mould within set timescales.

We aim to become an exemplar landlord, providing high quality tenancy services. We will meet the expectations of the Charter for Social Housing Residents and look to develop our key policies in line with this and the new Social Housing Regulations 2022-2023.

Meeting these challenges

We will meet these challenges by:

• implementing a robust investment plan for all our council housing stock over the next 30 years
• putting tenant safety first and fully meeting our regulatory responsibilities, including the eradication of mould and damp issues within set timescales
• developing a new Tenancy Strategy and establishing clear and high standards for the delivery of tenancy services
• appraising our council housing stock and re-purposing where required

Progress on the delivery of this strategy will be monitored by the Assistant Director for Housing on a quarterly basis and reported to the Executive Member for Housing Growth annually. The Strategy will be reviewed after three years.