The council has published a report on homelessness in York.
Generally the numbers are little changed from the previous year.
A copy of the report can be read by clicking here
The council has published a report on homelessness in York.
Generally the numbers are little changed from the previous year.
A copy of the report can be read by clicking here
Most York Council tenants continue to be satisfied with the quality of their home and the repairs and maintenance service.
However many remain dissatisfied with the opportunities available to influence management decisions.
And only 44% were satisfied with the final outcome of complaints that they had made.
However, the most significant result to be revealed, by the Councils annual survey of tenant’s views, comes on satisfaction levels with conditions on local estates.
The satisfaction level is down by 5%.
This comes as little surprise with many estates beginning to look neglected.
Weed growth, potholed bitmac, damaged verges and neglected communal areas all add up to an increasingly depressing environment.
The report on the survey results was taken to another behind closed doors meeting last week.
The report candidly admits,
“Customers have delivered a clear message that their estate services require attention. As well as a decrease in those very satisfied or fairly satisfied, there has a 5% increase in those very dissatisfied or fairly dissatisfied (10% 2012: 15% 2013)”.
The Labour Councillor with responsibility for Housing (Simpson Laing) failed to order any action which might stop the decline.
In line with representations made by many in York, the government is being asked to change the rules on housing benefit.
The proposed change would mean that tenants in existing social housing – who are under-occupying – would only lose entitlement to benefit if they had been offered smaller accommodation and turned it down.
In many areas a lack of 1 bedroomed properties is preventing people for downsizing (around 1000 single people are registered on the housing waiting/transfer list in York)
The party’s statement reads
The Council opened a new community centre (“Space 217”) serving the Lindsey Avenue area last year.
The initiative seemed to signal a welcome reversal of the current Council Leaderships policy of cutting all funding support from local community facilities.
However more information has become available which suggests that there is no ongoing business plan to support the facility.
At present all costs are being born by Council tenants (rent payments) through the housing account.
Ironically the two community centres most likely to close, as a result of Labour’s cut’s programme (Foxwood and Chapelfields), were also built on Housing Department owned land.
The Council says that it has had to spend around £31,000 bringing the former shop up to a standard that would allow it to be used as a community “hub”. This cost included the provision of disabled access and the removal of asbestos
The Council says that ongoing costs will also be paid for from within existing ring fenced “housing maintenance budgets”.
Strangely the Council is not offering financial support to other community centres from its housing maintenance budgets despite them being used by estate management officers, and other Council staff, as local meeting points.
NB. Lindsey Avenue is currently represented by Council Leader James Alexander. He will be under a lot of pressure if he is to retain his seat in next years local elections. The decision to open the new centre was taken behind closed doors.
Details of the scores given to 5 care homes in the York area have been published.
Each home received a score of between 0 and 2 (the lower the score the worse the result).
Details for each can be downloaded by clicking the name of the home
Barstow House (Rating 1)
Meadowfields (Rating 2)
Somerset House (Rating 2)
Lamal Beeches (Rating 2)
Red Lodge (Rating 1)
Scores for the (vast majority) of homes that scored over 2 have not been listed by the Council.
Builders have moved onto the Our Lady’s school site and have started to fell trees.
The Our Lady’s school buildings will be demolished within the next 3 weeks.
Work has already started to provide an electricity power supply to the new housing development.
The whole scheme, which involves the erection of 55 new homes, is expected to take about 12 months to complete.
The building contractors have said that all site traffic will follow the Kingsway West/Ascot Way/ Ashford Place/Windsor Garth bus route to access the site.
Residents remain concerned about the poor state of the roads on the route, and in particular the rapidly deteriorating road humps, although whether it would be worth completing permanent repairs before the heavy traffic moves on, is open to question.
It looks like the York Council will finally take our advice and buy flats on the open market to increase the availability of Council homes in the City.
We have long advocated using the substantial surplus that the Council holds on its revenue account to buy empty properties on the open market. Labour has resisted this over the last 3 years but finally seem to have some to their senses.
They paln to buy eight two-bedroomed and six one-bedroomed flats which are being constructed on Lindsay Avenue. The flats will have easy access to shops, bus routes, GPs and a Post Office. The Council says that the homes will be offered as downsizing opportunities for tenants aged over 55.
However over 50% of the people on the housing waiting list are single people seeking one bedroomed accommodation.
The Council should buy existing empty properties on the open market to help these residents (many of whom live in larger social housing properties which would be freed up for families).
Other downsizing schemes with housing association partners include those in Tang Hall, Huntington and Acomb, plus a further scheme completing in June 2014 at Water Lane, Clifton. This is in addition to a new council house building programme, of which sites at Beckfield Lane, Chaloners Road, Fenwick Street and Newbury Avenue are proposing apartments for people downsizing.
This new site on the corner of Lindsey Avenue and Sowerby Road has been marketed since summer 2012 as a development opportunity. With no interest expressed in running the former public house as a business, or the site as a commercial development opportunity, the site was auctioned in September 2013 and was purchased by York-based RHW Developments which has experience in delivering affordable housing.
The planning application was submitted in late March 2014, the outcome is expected in June 2014 with building work to start this summer with the completed homes ready in the summer 2015. If approved, the acquisition price would be paid in stages during construction.
The Council has declined to reveal how much it is paying for each property.
Several properties in Acomb sold for less than £120,000 recently.
With most people on the housing waiting list seeking one bedroomed properties, these homes represent an opportunity for the Council to add to its stock of socially rented property. They should at least consult home choice registered applicants to see whether the properties would meet their needs.
Recent sales have included
Address | Sold price | Sold date | Type |
15, Eaton Court, YO24 3NJ | £110,000 | 31 Jan 2014 | 1 bed semi-D |
10, Invicta Court, YO24 3NN | £116,500 | 20 Feb 2014 | 1 bed terraced |
78, Cornlands Road, YO24 3EA | £146,500 | 31 Jan 2014 | 3 bed terraced |
7, The Knoll, YO24 3EB | £140,000 | 07 Feb 2014 | 3 bed semi-D |
144, St Stephens Road, YO24 3EF | £126,000 | 08 Jan 2014 | 3 bed semi-D |
150, Askham Lane, YO24 3HR | £145,000 | 29 Jan 2014 | 3 bed terraced |
73, Cornlands Road, YO24 3DX | £119,000 | 21 Feb 2014 | 2 bed semi-D |
24, Girvan Close, YO24 2XR | £325,000 | 17 Jan 2014 | 5 bed detached |
29, Troutbeck, YO24 2RE | £177,000 | 24 Jan 2014 | 2 bed semi-D |
2, Ryecroft Avenue, YO24 2RR | £201,500 | 31 Jan 2014 | 3 bed semi-D |
Some larger properties are being advertised for sale
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Properties without a chain include:
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Properties where the asking price has been reduced include:
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The rental market remains buoyant with the following currently available
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£625 pcm Invicta Court, Acomb, YO24 2 Bed Terraced
£675 pcm West Bank, York 2 Bed Flat
The latest House Price Index from Land Registry shows that house prices increased by 0.7 per cent in February.
The annual change in England and Wales stands at 5.3 per cent. In York values have yet to return to 2008 levels.
The number of property sales has increased over the last 12 months.
The York Council’s controversial plan to develop the garage area on Chaloners Road has taken a step forward with layout plans having been published.
The plans show a 3 storey block containing 6 flats, plus two houses, on the site.
The main criticism of the Councils plan had been its impact on the availability of parking spaces in the area, increased traffic, the dominating effect that a 3 storey building would have and its impact on the adjacent Hoggs Pond nature area.
The plans show an allocated parking space for each new property with one visitor space. No measures to address the needs of drivers displaced from the garages have been announced.
On street parking space in the area is very limited. and the dropped kerb and layby provision programmes have both stalled recently.
The plans suggest that 8 mature trees will be felled. A significant amount of land is allocated as a “compost area”.
A planning application is expected to be submitted and determined in May. Residents will be able to object to the proposals and are permitted to address the Planning Committee before a decision is made.
A Public Information Drop-In Event has been organised for those interested in the plans for new Council flats on Chaloners Road and Newbury Avenue.
The Council has still to confirm how it will deal with the extra car parking requirements generated by the vehicles displaced from the site.
The “drop in” takes place on
Wednesday 16th April between 4pm – 7pm
at the York and district Indoor Bowls Club, Thanet Road, YO24 2NW