Housing Summary Report

Housing Summary report

Housing in North Yorkshire is unaffordable for many, placing pressure on the limited Affordable Housing stock in the county.

Good quality housing has a critical role to play in creating and supporting economic growth and helping to prevent illness, injury or the deterioration of existing conditions and is especially important for older people.

North Yorkshire is an attractive place to live and there is considerable demand for properties from households who work outside the county but commute from North Yorkshire, those who want to retire and who want a second or holiday home. This results in high average house prices and private rents.

The 2011 census highlighted that the predominant tenure is home ownership, at almost 70% of all households. A high proportion of owner occupiers own their homes outright, without a mortgage. There is a low proportion of social rented homes (11.7%) compared the national average (18.4%). Levels of social rented homes are particularly low in Craven and Harrogate (both 9.72%) and highest in Selby (13.1%).

However, housing in North Yorkshire is not affordable for many local people. A person earning average local wages would need to pay 9.7 times their income to buy a property in the county. Selby and Scarborough are the most affordable areas with rates of 7.4 and 7.6 respectively. Harrogate is the most unaffordable (11.2) followed by Hambleton (10.6). The lack of housing affordability impacts on the ability to attract and retain key workers and major employers to the county as well as on relatively low paid workers such as carers. This is particularly acute in the rural parts of the county, where average local incomes are lower and house prices higher.

Good quality housing also has a critical role to play in creating and supporting economic growth and helping to prevent illness, injury or the deterioration of existing conditions and is especially important for older people.

Please see the link to the Living Environment Deprivation summary report below;

https://www.datanorthyorkshire.org/JSNA/articles/indices-of-deprivation-summary/living-environment-deprivation/

The demand for housing is also changing in line with the changing demographics in the county. There are particular issues in addressing the needs of the older population – across North Yorkshire, households aged 65 or over make up one quarter of the population and this is predicted to grow. Couples with no children also make up a higher than average proportion of the population. In contrast, the existing stock of housing is predominantly Detached (33%) and Semi Detached (31%) with a smaller than average proportion of terraces and flats for smaller households, resulting in under-occupancy issues in some areas and the lack of opportunities for older households to ‘downsize’ and free up family accommodation.

There is a Choice Based Lettings system in operation in the districts in North Yorkshire (except in Harrogate). There is greatest demand in Scarborough with 2,100 households registered and Harrogate with 1,687 households. Selby has the lowest number of households waiting, with 517 on the list.

The numbers of homelessness acceptances within the county are reducing and preventions are rising year on year, however the needs of homelessness customers are increasing and are more complex in nature. In 2015/16 338 households were accepted as homeless and in priority need, while 3,012 households were assisted to prevent them from becoming homeless. The rate of homelessness prevention is above the national average (8.66 per 1,000 households) for all areas but Selby (7.04), Richmondshire has the highest rate (25.43).

Rough sleeping counts and estimates are single night snapshots of the number of people sleeping rough in local authority areas. Local Authorities decide whether to carry out a count or an estimate based upon their assessment of whether the local rough sleeping problem justifies counting. The estimated number of rough sleepers in North Yorkshire in autumn 2016 was 17. In autumn 2015 it was 14.

Services/Interventions/Programmes

The York, North Yorkshire & East Riding Strategic Housing Partnership brings together housing sections from the local authorities of York, North Yorkshire and East Riding with the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Park Authorities. The partnership have developed a joint housing strategy 2015-21.

New rural affordable housing is a priority for the Strategic Housing Partnership who fund a team of Rural Housing Enablers across the county to work with rural communities, alongside a range of funding partners.

In response to the housing challenges of an ageing population, North Yorkshire County Council has worked in partnership with housing providers and District and Borough Councils to help develop 21 state of the art Extra Care housing schemes across the county. Extra Care housing is a solution to meet the needs of the growing older people’s population in North Yorkshire by providing high quality, specifically designed, apartments and bungalows in an environment with a care team on site that can provide care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It provides older people with the security of having their ownhome, with the assurance that of their care needs can be met by the on-site care team. The schemes are run by not-for-profit registered Housing Associations that work with the local authorities in North Yorkshire to provide housing in local areas for those who need it most. The extra care housing model is proven to reduce hospital admissions and social isolation whilst promoting independence in old age. By catering for a wide variety of needs, it also helps reduce admissions to residential and nursing care and frees up housing stock which can be used more appropriately.

New housing development (market and affordable) is planned or underway at a number of strategic development sites across the county, including in Scarborough, Northallerton, Thirsk, Malton/Norton, and Selby. In 2015/16 2,253 new homes were completed, of these 18% were classed as affordable homes. Selby saw the highest level of house building (546 homes completed) and Richmondshire the least (139). Across the county the proportion of affordable homes varies considerable from 31.1% in Craven to 10.7% in Ryedale.

Further information

For more information on this data contact population.statistics@northyorks.gov.uk

Links to related data sets:

National Housing Federation ‘Home Truths’ Report for Yorkshire and the Humber 2015/16 https://www.housing.org.uk/resource-library/browse/home-truths-2015-2016-the-housing-market-in-yorkshire-and-the-humber/

Links to related sites:

York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Housing Strategy 2015-21

http://nycyerhousing.co.uk/data/documents/New-Y-NY-and-ER-Housing-Strategy-2015-to-21-LR-DRAFT-FINAL.pdf

York, North Yorkshire & East Riding Strategic Housing Partnership http://www.nycyerhousing.co.uk/

Data sets:

Census 2011 – Number of households, tenure

Household Projections

Affordability - DCLG table 576 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-housing-market-and-house-prices