Legal News

City of York Council has announced it is set to enter into a partnership with the government which could help deliver 5,000 much needed new homes on brownfield land over the next 15 years.

The new partnership will be one of the first of its kind in the region and would see both the council and Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) signing up to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The agreement will not only sign a joint commitment, but will enable the council to use national support to build much needed new homes.

Using this support, the partnership says it hopes to get to the root causes of poor housing supply in York, which in turn is intended to encourage more investment and address the shortage of housing.

City of York Executive Member for housing and safer neighbourhoods, Councillor Sam Lisle, said:

“York needs more homes: high house prices in York make it difficult for people, even those on average earnings, to become homeowners – and high rent levels make it tough on people with lower wage levels.

“This new partnership with the HCA is a key government initiative aimed at increasing housing provision – and could help us build over 1,000 homes in York over the next three years.

“If we can get to the root of the problem, encourage more investment and develop more intermediate and affordable homes in York, we can help generations of potential homeowners get on the housing ladder.”

Deputy Leader of the Council with responsibility for economic development, Cllr Keith Aspden, added:

“We welcome this new partnership, which is set to be one of the first of its kind in the country.

“This will signal a new direction for York – and will encourage investment, while helping to prioritise the building of much needed new homes on brownfield land.”

General Manager at the Homes and Communities Agency, Rob Pearson, said:

“We look forward to working with the council to develop our partnership, to ensure that developing brownfield land becomes the most common way of providing new homes for the city.

“A partnership with City of York Council will mean that we could jointly look at future land purchases, site assembly and sharing our expertise, to provide not just more homes – but more of the homes that people want.”

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors can advise on a wide range of housing law, including advising developers and self builders on planning permissions and planning appeals.

There are Duncan Lewis offices across England and Wales and our housing team is also able to advise on: