Call me Mr Shape

The Council is to adopt a pseudonym when it tries to sell any new homes that it builds in York. The decision comes in the wake of research which suggests that many potential buyers regard the Council as a provider of cheap, lower specification homes.

So, the Council will in future market itself as “Shape Homes York”. The revelation comes in a report being considered later this week

The Council’s poor image on housing is easy to understand given the litter and weed infested state of many Council estates. Unnecessary cuts to maintenance regimes have led to a fall in tenants’ satisfaction. This has affected the Councils image more generally.

The report also reveals what is claimed to be a new approach to design and public consultation on the sites that it will develop over the next few years. Around 600 new homes are planned.

Major mistakes were made at Lowfields where bogus promises of a new health centre and police station were included in marketing material. It later turned out that neither was likely to materialise while a proposed elderly persns home has been delayed. Residents became even more hostile towards the council when it was revealed that “replacement” sports pitches (those at Lowfield are being built on) would be provided at a site located some 3 miles away and lacking a public transport link.

The Council plans developments at Askham Bar, Burnholme, Duncombe Barracks, the former Manor School, the former Clifton Without School, and the former Woolnough House sites.

The brownfield (and unused) Askham bar car park site is being slipped down the priority list to allow for early work at Ordnance Lane and Hospital Fields Road.

The Council expects around 40% of the properties it builds to be “affordable”. They will be cross subsidised by market sales by the new “Shape Homes” front organisation. The Council has set up a new department to manage the programme and has recruited a large number of additional administrative staff. The overall cost of the programme is £154 million.

The Council has also published a design manual which they claim indicates how its new homes will look. It includes some high efficiency homes which will have low running costs (Passivhaus)

As the, currently stalled, Lowfield development has revealed, Council propaganda rarely these days accords with reality.

In setting up its own housing building operation, we think that the Council may be overextending itself.

It is still trying to bring to a conclusion the £42 million Community Stadium project, it announced last week that £20 million would be spent on redeveloping a business club at the Guildhall while the first tranche of work on the £1 billion York Central site is due to start later in the year.

& all that from a local authority which doesn’t even have a permanent Chief Executive working for it at present.

York Council set to become City’s largest PRIVATE landlord

Lowfields Green – “pack em in” approach to housing development?

Not content with being the largest provider of affordable (Council House) accommodation in the City, the York Council is now considering entering the private rented market.

Under plans to be discussed next week, it would set up a company that would develop homes on land currently owned by the authority. They hope to reinvest the profits from rents, and some house sales, into further developments.

In recent times, Council land has generally been developed by Housing Associations who have rented the properties at little more than the rents charged to Council tenants.

This approach is set to change with the Council now saying it will enter the private rental market.

Private rents in the City are typically three times higher than Council house rents. Private rent levels in the city have increased by 17% during the last 5 years.

Any private rented properties managed by the Council would not be subject to “Right to Buy” legislation (and hence discounts).

Individual developments would still have to include a planning requirement for at least 20% affordable units. It is possible that the housing revenue account (mainly income from Council House rents) will be used to purchase homes to expand further the number of affordable units available.

The sites that the Council hopes to develop through a new QUANGO are located at these sites:

Former Askham Bar Park and Ride
Former Burnholme College
Castle Piccadilly,
“City Centre car parks”,
Former Clifton Without School,
Hospital Fields Road/Ordnance Lane,
Former Lowfield School,
Former Manor School,
Tang Hall Library,
Woolnough House.

The plan to develop land in the city centre, which is currently used for car parking, may come as a shock. The Council has yet to confirm what its long term policy is on parking space numbers in the city centre, but any reduction is likely to be opposed by beleaguered traders. It is possible that the intention is to add one or two floors above existing car parks. That is an idea that has been floated in the past with mixed reactions.

The inclusion of the other sites may be premature. Particularly so in the case of Lowfields, where a recently submitted planning application has yet to been determined.

Taxpayers face an early blow if the plan is approved.

Investment/return profile

Upfront costs of £450,000 have been identified. This will mostly be spent on staff.

Ongoing staffing costs of £225,000 a year in the development company are predicted, while forecasts suggest that development costs will not be fully offset by sales income for up to 8 years.

All in all, this is a risky and complex project for the Council to be considering. There will be unease that it is biting off more than it can chew with delays on providing homes the most likely consequence.

In the last couple of years the numbers of new homes built in York has exceeded 1000 – well above draft Local Plan requirements.

Labour failed affordable homes target in three of its four years in power

The last Labour led Council failed to meet its target, of building 150 additional affordable homes per annum in York, on 3 of the 4 years that it held power.

The figures have recently been published on the Councils web site. Further information was provided in response to a Freedom of Information request

The one year (2011/12) when 151 homes were completed, owed much to the forward planning of the previous Liberal Democrat administration which had started work on providing additional Council houses in areas like the former Discus bungalow sites.

Only 50 homes were completed in 2013/14 – an all time low.

The Labour Council consistently refused to use the £15 million, held in housing reserves, to buy properties on the open market.

Until recently suitable properties were being advertised for less than £130,000 a unit.

Affordable housing – completions in York

.More detailed information can be found here

Only 107 new affordable homes completed in York last year

The York Council continues to perform poorly in the provision of affordable homes in York.

It has steadfastly refused to buy on the open market despite having a £15 million balance on its housing account.

In total, 345 additional homes were provided in the City during 2013/14. During the first 6 months of 2014/15, 235 homes were provided.

click to enlarge

York Council homes sold under “right to buy”? (New Council homes completed)

2010/11 = 10 (0)
2011/12 = 6 (0)
2012/13 = 24 (19)
2013/14 = 53 (0)
2014/15 (up to 1/12/14) = 39 (18)

Number on housing waiting list.

2010/11 = 3294
2011/12 = 3972
2012/13 = 4692
2013/14 = 2306 (eligibility change)
As at 20/01/15 = 1462

Over 2000 planning applications for housing have been approved during the last 18 months, with the vast majority for “brownfield” (previously developed) land

Liberal Democrat housing policy can be read here

Liberal Democrats launch Rent to Own scheme for first-time buyers

Under Liberal Democrat manifesto plans announced today, young people will be able to buy their own home without needing a deposit.

Instead the Rent to Own scheme will help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder by allowing them to build up a share in their home through renting.

This is a revolutionary shift in housing policy that will give young people caught in ‘generation rent’ a chance at home ownership.

Embedded image permalink

Research shows that home ownership has plummeted for under 35s in the last decade. The percentage of 25–35-year-olds owning a home has gone down from 59% to 36%.

Now, rather than being trapped in rental accommodation forever, working young people who are unable to afford a deposit will be able to become home owners.

Our policy builds on ground-breaking work by social enterprise Gentoo Group, who have rolled out a similar scheme – called Genie – in the North East and plan to expand into London later this year.

Rent to Own will see first-time buyers steadily build up a share in their home through monthly payments equivalent to rent until they own the property outright after 30 years, just like a normal mortgage.

Under Liberal Democrat scheme, the government would partner with housing associations and other providers to deliver Rent to Own houses where monthly payments are no higher than market rent.

This is forms part of Liberal Democrat plans to deliver 300,000 homes each year, with the government bridging the gap between private sector building and demand.
(more…)

York lags behind in house building recovery

Despite the economic recovery, York lagged behind the rest of the country in the number of new homes completed last year.

A report published after a “behind closed doors” meeting held last week revealed that only 50 affordable homes were built in the City last year.

This is down from the 282 built during the last year of the Liberal Democrat led Council administration in 2010/2011.

It compares to the annual target of 790 new homes adopted by Labour Councillors following a “strategic market assessment”.

On average, 150 affordable homes had been built annually during the pervious 5 years.

Alarmingly the number of new affordable homes being added by the Council is now less than the number of Council houses being sold under “Right to Buy” legislation

Year	RTB Applications	RTB Sales
11/12	20	6
12/13	88	23
13/14	77	53

The Council has failed to invest the income from RTB sales effectively

The Council has also failed to use its substantial £12.86 million housing surplus to buy empty homes on the open market, and resolutely refuses to use the “New Homes Bonus” (money provided by the government to recognise house building success) on affordable homes.

Small wonder that Labour did not want these figures to be debated in public.

The only crumb of comfort was that – in line with the rest of the country – the total number of planning applications for new homes rose from 370 units in 2012 to 1578 last year, although a significant proportion of these were for specialist student flats.