Sustainable and affordable housing
Deliver more affordable homes to attract and retain young people and working age households across the subregion
There is an affordability challenge for many areas of York and North Yorkshire. The affordability ratio, which is calculated by dividing house prices by gross annual workplace-based earnings, is high within both our urban and rural locations. Only Scarborough (6.67) and Selby (7.34) are lower than the affordability ratios for England and Wales (8.16).
The cost of rented accommodation in York (£875) and Harrogate (£825) was close to England’s (£850) median monthly rental price between 1st October 2022 to 30 September 2023. However, wage levels are much lower in the subregion, meaning rental options are equally unaffordable for residents. They’re also much higher than the regional level (£650).
Create the right homes in the right places, recognising the differing needs of our communities
Recognising the high numbers of older people across York and North Yorkshire (25% aged over 65 in North Yorkshire), it is important that new housing supply is both accessible and adaptable to enable people to stay living within their own homes at different life stages.
We also need to ensure that housing is available to younger households so that they can stay living in the sub region. This is especially challenging within our rural communities where populations are ageing and in some cases declining due to a lack of affordable housing. The impact of second homes and holiday lets in our rural areas, which in some localities can make up as much as 25% of the housing stock, together with the high cost of delivering new affordable rural homes means that ensuring a supply of new homes is vital to the sustainability of our rural communities.
The scale of housing need across the sub region is acutely challenging; the rise in homelessness has led to a marked increase in the need for temporary accommodation at a time when the supply of private rented accommodation is under pressure. In addition, a shortage of specialist housing provision to meet specific needs, along with the housing requirements of displaced people, means that the picture of housing demand across YNY is complex.
Scale the construction sector through decarbonisation of our housing stock
There will be a large demand for retrofitting within York and North Yorkshire due to its current housing stock. The subregion contains a large proportion of homes that are very old (pre-1919) (24% relative to 19% nationally); typically these are less well insulated and often more difficult to retrofit. As a result, York and North Yorkshire has a high proportion of homes with poor thermal efficiency – around 68% of homes have an EPC rating below C. Improving the efficiency of our homes creates an opportunity for the construction sector and means warmer homes and reduced costs for our residents. There is also new policies coming in around new homes with the Future Homes & Buildings Standard currently out for consultation.
Our focus will be to…
- Ensure the right homes are delivered in the right places to support our current and future housing needs
- Ensure access to a strong labour base through our housing, particularly for rural communities
- Support the construction sector to retrofit and decarbonise our housing stock
What work is already happening
