What is the cause of Harrogate struggling on the issue of affordable housing?

In depth: Is Harrogate's Local Plan failing one brick at a time and if so why?

When The Local Plan was adopted by Harrogate Borough Council in 2020 to meet the Government’s push for new housing, a council spokesperson said: “Our adopted Local Plan, underpinned by local evidence of housing need, seeks to tackle a number of long standing local issues.

"In particular, families and young people are facing increasing difficulty in buying their own home due to a lack of houses and high house prices.”

As part of the Local Plan, Harrogate council set a target of building 208 affordable homes each financial year.

In terms of achieving that goal, 215 had been built by the start of 2021.

But that total is dwarfed by the amount of non affordable housing being built currently.

Official figures show 2,682 new houses were built in the Harrogate district between 2018 and 2021.

Coun Tim Myatt, cabinet member for planning at Harrogate Borough Council, said : “The majority of people I speak to acknowledge the need for new and affordable housing but getting consensus on where it should go can be a challenge.

“We have delivered much needed new homes including a high percentage of affordable dwellings and are making good progress on reducing the gap between homes needed and homes delivered.”

At a national level, the Government has been resistant to any return to the era of council built ‘social housing’ seen in the post-war years.

And the question of what affordable housing is tends to lie in the eye of the beholder.

The Government’s definition is that affordable homes should cost no more than 80% of the average local market.

Last year the average property price paid in Harrogate was £395,526 according to a report by Harrogate Borough Council.

In its 2019 manifesto, the Conservative Party pledged to build at least one million new homes in the current Parliament.

What part of that ends up being ‘affordable’ is a moot point.

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