Sixty houses are earmarked for development on fields on the outskirts of Whitby as part of a plan by North Yorkshire Council to build sustainable and affordable housing.
North Yorkshire Council (NYC) is proposing to enter into a joint venture with national housing developer, Lovell Partnerships Ltd, to build 600 homes across Scarborough and Whitby – and share the profits.
There will be 60 houses built on land off Sandsend Road, behind Love Lane looking towards the golf course. A further 550 will be built near Eastfield at Scarborough. A council report says there will be 18 affordable homes on the Whitby development and 196 in Scarborough.
The Government has set NYC a target of delivering more than 4,000 new homes a year. The affordable homes delivered through the proposed partnership will be taken on by NYC in its capacity as a social landlord, as it aims to increase its housing stock by at least 500 new homes.
Under the agreement with Lovell, NYC provides the development land with Lovell matching its value through funding. Profit will be shared equally between the two organisations.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for housing, Coun Simon Myers, said: “This proposed partnership gives us a real opportunity to have greater control and help us better shape how new homes are delivered across the county.
“By working with a trusted partner and using land we already own, we can accelerate the delivery of high-quality housing, including much-needed affordable homes, so that more families have the opportunity to live in the communities they want to.
“Rather than simply selling land to private developers, this approach would also allow us to retain influence over what is built and when – helping us to deliver new homes and the supporting infrastructure they need, while promoting sustainable communities.
“As demand for housing continues to grow, particularly in our coastal and rural areas, this is an important step towards delivering the right homes in the right places for the people of North Yorkshire.
“This will be carefully considered by members of the executive at next week’s meeting.”
In June last year, NYC approved the principle of creating a Joint Venture limited liability partnership between itself and Lovell for the purposes of building new, environmentally sustainable, affordable homes with social value.
As well as Sandsend Road and Eastfield, schemes were also suggested for Rievaulx Road in Whitby and Sharphaw Avenue, Skipton. These two sites do not feature in this current scheme but are potential future ones.
Among the recommendations to be presented to the council’s executive committee next week, include a proposal to use initial capital and revenue receipts from the joint venture -up to £5m – to create a council budget to support the partnership.
The proposals are due to be considered by members of NYC’s executive committee when it meets on Tuesday July 14.
