The challenge of providing affordable housing to struggling residents of rural areas is something we are tackling head on with an 88-home development at Aiskew near Bedale.
New affordable homes mean growth. The construction process brings jobs and requires a skilled workforce, while the homes themselves allow people to build communities, connecting them to opportunities for work and leisure.
Our £12 million Brownfield Housing Fund (BHF), which was allocated as part of our devolution deal, and is boosted by £4.6m from the mayor’s mayoral investment fund, is currently helping more than 1300 new homes throughout the region, of which around half will be affordable.
Broadacres Housing Association is one of the organisations which shares our ambition. Supported by a BHF grant of more than £1million to provide people with affordable, energy efficient homes, they have welcomed the first residents into its 88-home affordable housing development at Aiskew near Bedale.
One of those residents is Gill, 68, who came to North Yorkshire from Birmingham. After a long career with the police, Gill found herself urgently needing an affordable home after her first housing option unexpectedly fell through, leaving her with a significant financial challenge.
“I wanted to move away from the big city and had always loved North Yorkshire,” she said. “I used to come here as a teenager and I just loved the scenery.”
“I’d worked all my life and didn’t want to consider renting. I learnt about Broadacres by accident one day while I was considering my options and I noticed the Bedale development.
“I came to have a look while it was being built. I loved the village and luckily I was accepted for one of the properties. I moved in May and life is completely different for me now. It’s like a breath of fresh air.”
To find out more about how York and North Yorkshire is answering the region’s housing needs, go to our Housing page.
