The Council has published a further report on the number of new homes that it believes should be built in the City over the next 20 years.
The report fails completely to offer any possibility of reaching a consensus, driven, as it is, by the now discredited “Big City” strategy devised by the last Labour administration.
Council officials need to get back to basics. History is fact and an average of around 600 additional homes is what has been produced in the City over the last few decades.
Births, deaths and house building click to enlarge
In the last two years the housing waiting list in the City has fallen from a peak of 4692 to 1344. That is the backlog in demand that needs to be accommodated and, with nearly 5000 outstanding planning permissions available in the city, volume requirements (but not necessary affordability) can be addressed.
Natural population growth (births minus deaths) have averaged around 1000 a year producing an internal demand for less than 500 additional homes each year.
As was explained a coupe of days ago, there are a vast range of opinions on what may happen over the next two decades.
It is however highly unlikely that we will see high levels of sustained economic growth over the longer term. There will be peaks and troughs
Hence a figure of between 600 and 650 additional homes per year – on average – is a reasonable and justifiable aspiration.
The sooner York Council officials recognise this and get on with planning on that basis the sooner York’s Local Plan can achieve widespread support.