Housing figures to be questioned as Tories try to “sack” cabinet member

rural-housing

Two questions have been tabled for Thursdays York Council meeting, which may shed some light on the demand for affordable housing in York.

The questions spring from the decision to remove over half the applicants who were registered on the waiting list in September.

The impact of this major decision – which was taken behind closed doors – will be questioned by Liberal Democrat Councillor Ann Reid.

She has tabled the following question,

“Does the decision to remove 2400 applicants from the Housing Waiting List, which means there are now officially fewer residents in housing need, mean there will be lower affordable house building targets?”

Last week the government announced that developers would, in future, not have to provide a fixed number of affordable units on developments of 10 homes or less.

In addition, Councils will be able to borrow money to acquire more social housing.

The Labour Leadership’s claim, that the additional homes that they plan to build in and around the City over the next 15 years would be occupied by local residents, is also being challenged.

The following question has been tabled.

“What proportion of the 22,000 additional homes that the Cabinet Member feels should be built during the next 15 years under Labour’s Local Plan proposals, does she believe will be occupied by York residents and their families and how many by inward migration?”

———–
Meanwhile Conservative Councillors are trying to force the resignation from the Cabinet of Cllr Tracey Simpson Laing.

Acomb Council branch office closed by Councillor Simpson Laing

Acomb Council branch office closed by Councillor Simpson Laing

They have put down a motion of “no confidence“, but cite only the Councillors failure to provide additional affordable homes in the City.

While housing building rates over the last 3 years have been disappointing, and the failure of the Council to buy on the open market to supplement the rented stock lamentable, the more serious shortcomings of the present administration are in danger of being overlooked.

Labour only have themselves to blame though, as they tried a similar “no confidence” stunt in 2008.

Lowfields older peoples village gets dementia care specialist

Artists impression of new "care village"

Artists impression of new “care village”

Dementia Care specialist, Dementia Care Matters, is to help provide high quality care to those suffering from the condition in York.

 

Dementia Care Matters will advise the council on the operating model for its two new specialist dementia care Elderly Person’s Homes at Lowfield and Burnholme, as well as supporting and training existing care home staff to ensure they can deliver specialist care in the new homes.
(more…)

White Swan refurbishment starts

White Swan Hotel York

White Swan Hotel York

Work to help regenerate a prominent unused building in the city centre has begun, as contractors have started to strip out The White Swan Hotel.

A £450,000 grant from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) Empty Homes 2 programme is helping to create new accommodation including 18 affordable homes plus new ground floor retail units in the city’s central shopping area.

Sainsbury’s has submitted several planning applications to cover the remodelling of the ground floor of the building. They include details of the planned signage, security blinds and an ATM click

Recent research carried out by the North East Civic Trust has identified the potential for hundreds of new homes in unused spaces above shops and offices in central York.

Tees Valley Housing and local affordable housing experts CoHo Ltd are moving forward to identify specific opportunities for new housing in the city centre over the next 18 months, and is asking local landlords and agents to come forward to discuss and realise new schemes.

(more…)

Public exhibitions set to unveil plans for former British Sugar site

British Sugar site

British Sugar site

British Sugar is inviting local residents to attend public exhibitions to discuss proposals for the redevelopment of the former British Sugar industrial site off Boroughbridge Road in York.

The events will take place on Thursday 28 November and Saturday 30 November and will provide residents with the opportunity to review the draft Masterplan options for the site and discuss the proposals with the project team.

City of York Council has consulted for a number of years on the future development of the site and has identified it in its Draft Local Plan for a residential-led development, which will deliver much-needed family homes.

However the Council’s Leadership is understood to be pressing for a large supermarket to be included in the development which could cause huge traffic pressures in the area while robbing the beleaguered Acomb shopping centre of vital footfall.

The exhibitions will be held at the former Manor School site, Low Poppleton Lane, York, YO26 6BB between 3pm and 7pm on Thursday 28 November and between 11am and 4pm on Saturday 30 November.

Site tours will also be offered to those attending the Saturday event.

Further information is available by calling 08448 425285. Following the exhibitions information will be uploaded to the website http://www.sugarredevelopmentyork.co.uk/.
(more…)

New Homes Bonus

Own goal

We can apparently thank the Labour Party for revealing that most Council’s have not used the New Homes Bonus to provide additional affordable homes.

 

They blame the government for making the money available to local councils.

They then go on to score an own goal by revealing that 93% of local Council have not built a single new home using the “Bonus”.

Amongst them is York which stands to rake in around £8 million over the next 6 years from the scheme.

The York Council Leadership resolutely refuses to buy additional homes on the open market as a quick way of supplementing housing stocks.

Housing growth in York – who will occupy?

Most additional homes constructed in York over the next 25 years will be occupied by inward migrants.

 

Births, deaths and house building click to enlarge

Births, deaths and house building click to enlarge

The latest birth rate figures confirm that less than 10,000 homes are required over the next 25 years to meet the expected natural increase in the City’s population.

Labour however plans to build 22,000 (over the next 15 years) most of which will go to people not currently living in the City.

Yesterday developers announced a plan to build 1500 homes at Huntington on a green field location

The Council’s leadership have shot themselves in the foot claiming that with births exceeding deaths in the City new homes will be occupied by existing York residents.

That is clearly not the case.

Who would occupy 22,000 additional homes click to enlarge

Who would occupy 22,000 additional homes click to enlarge

Indeed average housing building rates, over the last 10 years, have more than equalled the natural growth in the City’s population.

The increase in population over the last decade has mainly been caused by higher life expectancy, although the population did get a boost as a result of the (unrepeatable) growth in Higher Education provision in the City.

The census returns indicate an average annual increase in the City’s population of 1691 during the last decade.

There is a housing problem in the City but it stems from high rent levels in the private sector. Even after taking into account housing benefit (rent rebates), renting a home in York is relatively expensive.

Potential owner occupiers can still buy 2 bedroomed homes from £120,000.

That should lead the Council to give the top priority to providing more Council and Housing Association rented homes in The City.

NB. The Council have now accepted that their quoted housing waiting list numbers have been wildly exaggerated for the last 2 years.

House completion numbers

Large number of objections to Our Lady’s school development plans

Derelict school site next to Hob Moor

Derelict school site next to Hob Moor

Revised layout drawings have been lodged with the Council for the 56 home development proposed for the school site on Windsor Garth.

A large number of objections to the development have been lodged including these from by the Friends of Hob Moor and the local Residents Association

The main objections expressed relate to the density of the development which would adversely impact on local public services.

Several residents have expressed concerns about drainage from the site which could damage the Hob Moor nature reserve.

Layout plan Nov 2013. Click to access

Layout plan Nov 2013. Click to access

The absence of any play facilities has been mentioned by many. (According to the Council children will be expected to walk to the facilities on Chesney’s Field – but that is on the other side of a busy road).

Layout plan Sept 2013 click to access

Layout plan Sept 2013 click to access

It has emerged that the developers want to remove the – perfectly serviceable – metal railings which surround the site and replace them with a wooden fence. Metal railings are much more durable and effective than wooden fences.

It looks like it will be a few more weeks before this application reaches the planning committee.

Council house rent arrears in York

Council house rent arrears in York click for source document

Council house rent arrears in York click for source document

The increasingly ubiquitous Cllr Burton has taken to the York Press today to tell us that rent arrears have increased since the abolition of the spare room subsidy (bedroom tax).

Sadly for him that simply isn’t true.

 

The actual figures can be found on the Councils web site (click graphic).

They show that, with the improvement on the economy, fewer tenants are now in arrears than was the case 3 years ago.

In total 1017 tenants were affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy.

The government awarded the York Council £88,730.96 to offset any hardship that may have been caused by the change to benefit arrangements.

The total amount of discretionary housing payment spent on ‘removal of the spare room subsidy’ cases this financial year is £42,344.74.

154 tenants received payments.

NB. The Labour Council recently arbitrarily removed 2400 people from the housing waiting list.

 

Labour’s housing waiting list scam – Freedom of information request submitted

click to access

click to access

A Freedom of Information request has been submitted aimed at getting to the bottom of the recent drop in the number of people on the social housing waiting list in York.

The number on the list fell from over 4600 families at the beginning of September, to only 2200 in October. No new social housing developments were completed for occupation during that period.

It turned out that a behind closed doors decision had been taken to kick more than half of the applicants off the list.

We now understand that most of these were deemed to be people who did not have a real housing need and who had not applied for any of the homes advertised during the previous 12 months.

Of the others, 140 were already homeowners and 187 had no local connection while 13 had no local connection and were also homeowners

57 applicants had their application banding changed from Gold to Silver.
The Council has to respond within 28 days to the FOI request.
The request seeks details of how the decision was taken, when and by whom.

It asks the Council what consultation was undertaken.

It seeks more information about the categories of people who have been thrown off the register.

Labour fiddle York housing waiting list figures

Cabinet member orders that 2400 residents be taken off list

Earlier in the week a report, which is being presented to the York Council “Cabinet”, claimed that the numbers on the Housing waiting list had more than halved in 6 months.

click for source document
click for source document

The report showed that only 2420 are now registered on the list – down from 4692 at the end of March.

4692 was the figure quoted by Labour to justify their plans to build 22,000 additional homes over the next 15 years, mainly on green belt land next to the City.

No explanation was given for this phenomenal reduction which was simply labelled as a “decrease”.

It was all the more surprising as, since Labour took control of the Council the supply of new “affordable” homes, has tailed off.

It now turns out that the change has been achieved simply by taking people off the list who Labour Councillors feel are not in housing need.

These include all those in the so called “bronze” category.

This is another decision that has been taken without any consultation and behind closed doors. It has not been widely publicised since it was introduced about 4 weeks ago.

No doubt Labour hoped, nearer the next Council elections, to announce that they had “solved” York’s housing problems.

Electors are not so easily fooled.

Behind closed doors logo It is time that the Council ordered a public scrutiny review of the way in which the North Yorkshire housing waiting list has been massaged.

Some of the revised criteria that are now being applied will win general support (listed below).

Many however will find this new example of secrecy a sinister development.

The key changes are listed below.

  • Ensuring local people have priority by restricting the register to people who have a local connection
  •  Supporting balanced and sustainable communities by preventing people with a history of serious Anti-Social Behaviour      issues from qualifying for social housing
  •  Excluding homeowners who have no recognised housing need either for economic or social reasons
  •  Introducing a financial threshold for people who have a combined household income and/or capital and assets of £60,000 plus and who may be able to meet their own housing needs.  It is recognised some people, in particular the elderly, may need to move into specialist accommodation and alternative housing advice will be given to them
  •  Allocating properties to meet applicants’ assessed bedroom need
  •  To make the process fair, penalties to exclude persons from the register have been introduced. These include persons, who provide false information, deliberately withhold information or who have deliberately worsened their housing circumstances