A public consultation on a new housing strategy for North Yorkshire comes to an end on Monday. It seeks to tackle homelessness, meet the needs of the ageing population and increase the supply of affordable housing.
While is sounds like a fairly dry subject, the council say it has major implications for everyone in the county.
Executive member for Housing - Councillor Simon Myers - says there are strong links between housing affordability and health.
The new strategy aims to deliver homes that meet the needs of communities across North Yorkshire and will provide a framework for housing policies and projects over the next five years.
The council's housing strategy manager - Sharon Graham - says the rurality of North Yorkshire creates some extra challenges.
Sharon Graham says one of the big challenges is the affordability of housing in North Yorkshire.
North Yorkshire has a population of 619,542 people living in 274,381 households.
A quarter of the population are age 65 or over and over 108,000 residents are limited by health or disability.
The average house price in the county is £284,000 and the average annual household income after housing costs is £28,448.
The council says that the most recently available comparison figures show the county has higher house prices than the rest of Yorkshire and the Humber, but lower average earnings.
North Yorkshire Council says it's housing strategy will:
"take a proactive approach to housing delivery, and we will develop a bold plan to deliver more homes, including more affordable homes, working with partners, across North Yorkshire over the next five years.
Our strategy demonstrates how we will use the new combined strength of the unitary authority and the advantage of being a stock holding council to unlock greater resources, access funding opportunities and accelerate housing growth and regeneration, ensuring that we deliver sustainably, and develop inclusive places.
We are an ambitious council, keen to deliver excellent housing services and to be an exemplar social landlord. We will lead by example, driving up standards across our council housing stock and taking enforcement action where we find landlords who are failing to meet safety requirements, ensuring decent and safe homes for all residents."
The public consultation closes on Monday December 12th. There is more information at https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/your-council/consultations-and-engagement/current-consultations/draft-housing-strategy-consultation
The consultation survey can be completed at https://online1.snapsurveys.com/interview/f062592b-741b-4cf1-9a7d-45697e8ca8a2
Comments
Add a comment