Scarborough Borough Better Homes project to progress further this week
The project to provide more affordable – and higher quality – homes across the borough of Scarborough will progress further this week as it is reviewed by councillors.
The project to provide more affordable – and higher quality – homes across the borough of Scarborough will progress further this week as it is reviewed by councillors.
Scarborough Borough Council’s Lives and Homes overview and scrutiny committee will meet on Thursday (17th June) to discuss the Better Homes project.
The authority has identified 12 sites it owns where there is the potential to build new and sustainable properties which can be constructed to a higher design standard.
All 12 locations were previously considered for development as part of the current Local Plan process.
However, as eight of the sites are classed as public open space, further consultation took place earlier this year to capture the views of residents and other stakeholders, such as parish councils.
A business case has now been prepared to move the project forward. It would see the creation of a joint venture with a partner organisation to deliver homes on nine of the sites.
The innovative Better Homes project is central to the council’s commitment to addressing a shortage of quality housing for local people, which is also affordable across the entire borough.
Approximately 37% of jobs here are paid below the Real Living Wage and around 41% of employed clients of the local Citizens’ Advice claim in-work benefits.
This has resulted in 2,000 households on the waiting list for social rented housing and the average cost of a home valued at around seven to nine times the average salary of £27,000.
Estimated demand for affordable homes shows around 220 properties are needed each year. The borough’s ageing population means there is also a need for 4,000 specialist and adaptable homes.
The committee’s feedback will be used to inform a further report about adopting the business case, which will be considered by the council’s cabinet on Tuesday 29 June.
Cllr Carl Maw, Scarborough Borough Council cabinet member for stronger communities and housing, said:
"There's a huge disparity in affordability between private rent costs and average incomes, so it's vital we tackle this issue.
“However, we can’t deliver the number of affordable homes we need across the borough by taking the traditional approach of selling land to developers, or solely through current planning policy.
“Our Better Homes project is an innovative way of tackling this issue by offering ‘homes for life’ that are cleverly designed in the first place to be adaptable to meet the changing needs of their owners.
“I’d like to thank everyone who took part in the recent consultation for sharing their views.”
Cllr Liz Colling, Scarborough Borough Council cabinet member for inclusive growth, said:
“We have an excellent record of increasing the supply of affordable homes, but this project will help us go further and faster than we have before.
“We are now at the point where we need to build twice as many affordable homes as we do now. If we don’t, we can’t meet the needs of our local communities.
“Importantly, working through the proposed joint venture, we can ensure these new homes are constructed to higher environmental standards such as energy efficiency and low carbon heating.”