Families have welcomed a decision to introduce a council tax premium on second homes to help to tackle a critical lack of affordable housing that is undermining North Yorkshire’s communities.

Members of North Yorkshire Council have today (Wednesday, February 21) backed plans to introduce a 100 per cent premium for council tax bills on second homes in the county from April next year.

The new scheme will effectively double council tax bills for second homeowners and means that North Yorkshire is one of the first areas in the country to progress with adopting the Government’s new measures.

The policy will be adopted from April 1 next year, given the requirements under the new national legislation to give second homes owners a 12-month period of notice before the charges are applied.

North Yorkshire Council’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, welcomed the decision at today’s meeting of the full council to agree the council tax premium on second homes, which he claimed will play an important role in helping to provide more affordable housing.

Cllr Les said: “The need for more affordable housing has long been recognised in North Yorkshire, and we are committed to doing all we can to allow people to live in the places that they wish to.

“The fact that the county is such a wonderful place to live and work is one of its biggest draws, and as a result this has compounded the issues surrounding affordable housing.

“We also welcome visitors from across the world every year, and while there needs to be a balance with preserving the visitor economy, the current situation is simply not sustainable.

“As a council, we are leading the way to become one of the first local authorities to introduce the council tax premium on second homes. It will help to free up homes, and ensure our communities remain sustainable for the future.”

The proposals are ultimately aimed at bringing second homes back into use for local communities after many people have been priced out of the housing market in some of North Yorkshire’s most desirable locations.

It is also expected that the decision to introduce the premium will provide a multi-million pound boost to finance council priorities, including a central aim to use the funding to help introduce more housing in areas particularly affected by the affordability crisis.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for finance, Cllr Gareth Dadd, who is also the authority’s deputy leader, said: “There is an acute shortage of housing for local people in many communities in North Yorkshire, and this has been an issue that has long affected their opportunities to actually buy their own home.

“Whether it be locations such as the Yorkshire Dales, the North York Moors or coastal towns such as Scarborough and Whitby, the fact that these are wonderful places to live has heightened these issues.

“As a council, we are proud of such a forward-thinking scheme to introduce the council tax premium that will ideally see these second homes brought back into use for local people. But if not, then there will be a valuable new revenue stream created that will help fund council priorities, such as helping introduce more housing for local communities.”

Among the couples who have battled to find a home in North Yorkshire are David and Caroline Harper, who have two children, Phillip, aged nine, and five-year-old Lucy.

Mr Harper, 37, a teaching assistant, and his 34-year-old wife spent more than four years looking to find a suitable property to live in after they married in 2012.

They eventually managed to secure a three-bedroom house in the village of Hudswell, near Richmond, where Mr Harper grew up.

He said: “We did face particular challenges to find a home, as we had always wanted to live near our friends and family in the village where I grew up.

“It was a difficult housing market then, and it is even worse now to find a suitable property that you can afford.

“We were very fortunate to find the home we are in now, but we can relate to the issues other families are facing, particularly in rural areas of North Yorkshire.

“The council tax premium on second homes is a crucial new policy and will help to free up houses, and while there is not one single solution, this will undoubtedly help.

“It is a balancing act as the tourism industry is so important to North Yorkshire, but people deserve the right to be able to live in the communities where they want to.”

Analysis has shown that the introduction of a 100 per cent premium on council tax bills for second homes in North Yorkshire could generate between £11.5 million and £16.5 million a year in additional revenue.

The Scarborough area has the potential to bring in almost half of the additional revenue due to the large number of second homes in coastal towns such as Whitby, Scarborough and Filey.

A lack of affordable housing across North Yorkshire has been a long-running issue, accentuated in many of the county’s rural and coastal locations that are among the most desirable places to live in the country.

There is a high demand for second homes, increasing the strain on an already limited housing stock. According to figures from the National Housing Federation, there are 8,081 second homes in North Yorkshire – the highest number in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

The Right to Build Task Force welcomes todays opening of the up to £75million Brownfield Land Release Fund, which includes a dedicated £25million fund for self and custom build projects.

The fund, announced in the Autumn and co-ordinated by One Public Estate (see notes), went live today, with local authorities invited to bid for funding for projects before the 2 June application deadline. The dedicated custom and self build scheme provides capital grant funding to bring forward local authority land for housing development, giving proactive local authorities the chance to progress sites with viability issues for custom and self build projects.

Eligible land must be wholly owned by the local authority, and most authorities can apply, with the exception of some Mayoral Combined Authorities. Importantly, self and custom build schemes on greenfield land, as well as brownfield, are eligible for support.

The scheme is designed to unlock sites that may otherwise struggle to come forward, with funding available for a range of uses, including:

• Site levelling, preparation and groundworks,
• Provision of small-scale infrastructure,
• Highways works or other access challenges,
• Addressing environmental constraints,
• Providing services to plots, and more.

The window for applying is narrow, with submissions due by 2 June, and awards announced over the summer. Applications must meet a range of criteria to be considered, including a score for innovation for custom and self build, with funds awarded over the summer.

Mary Elkington, Acting Head of the Right to Build Task Force, said: “It is fantastic that the Brownfield Land Release Fund includes this £25 million allocation for self and custom build, and we encourage as many councils as possible to apply. This will make a genuine difference to those authorities working to deliver a more diverse route to delivering high-quality housing.

“Support for replicable exemplars of this innovative route to housing helps in scaling up custom and self build. These sites will showcase the wide range of benefits that custom and self build can deliver, complementing wider housing delivery.”

WIDER NATIONAL SUPPORT

The fund is the latest announcement from government to support custom and self build in a series of measures that will contribute to the sector scaling up. This will support valuable additional homes to be created, helping councils meet their housing strategy objectives, as well as wider goals around building better and placemaking

The Government has announced a range of measures to support self and custom build (see below for links):

• A review of the Right to Build legislation to make it more robust,
• The first update to the National Planning Practice Guidance for Self-build and Custom Housebuilding, which adds weight to the role of custom and self build in planning terms,
• The publication of data for local authority plot permissions to create a body of evidence of self and custom build activity,
• A Right to Regenerate to support the compulsory purchase for unused public sector land, including for housing (at consultation stage),
• A new Help to Build equity loan scheme to help more people access custom and self builds, (launching imminently) and
• Funding of the Right to Build Task Force by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. This supports our work of delivering a free custom and self build workshops to every English local authority – email taskforce@righttobuild.org.uk to find out more.

This benefits of the route were also endorsed by the Chief Planner in her February newsletter to all Heads of Councils, when she said: “Self and custom builders are well placed to build high quality, well designed homes that are energy efficient, accessible, affordable and welcomed by their communities.” Chief Planner Joanna Averley, February 2021.

Supported by the MHCLG funding, the Right to Build Task Force is engaging with every English local authority to support their understanding of custom and self build, work supported by the suite of advice freely available on the Task Force’s website www.righttobuild.org.uk.

This includes the guidance notes in the Task Force’s Custom and Self-build Planning Guidance, which has recently been updated to reflect the amended PPG for custom and self build housing, also on the Task Force’s website.

Property & Development Magazine

Offsite manufacturer Rollalong has completed its latest turnkey residential project, delivering 13 new modular council-owned homes in Barking, East London.

The new homes were manufactured in a controlled factory environment in Dorset and have been installed on Sugden Way in Barking as part of a development managed by Be First for Barking and Dagenham Council.

The development is the latest successful housing project for Rollalong, which specialises in manufacturing buildings offsite for the residential, defence, health and education sectors.

“We’re extremely pleased to have completed this residential scheme which now provides a range of high-quality, affordable homes for people in Barking and Dagenham,” said Clive Harris, Construction Manager at Rollalong.

“Like many parts of the UK, Barking and Dagenham suffers from a shortage of housing, and our modular approach offers local authorities a chance to address this shortfall in around half the time of a traditional build.

“Modular offsite construction also significantly reduces disruption to the neighbouring properties during the project.”

Be First Construction Manager Sam Parry said: “We’re really pleased to say that in spite of the coronavirus we’ve delivered 13 new affordable homes for the council in a fraction of the time a traditional build would take.

“More importantly, the standard is excellent, which means top-quality new homes for local people that will stand the test of time.”

The new homes include a one-bedroom flat, eight two-bedroom flats and four three-bedroom flats.

The modules were transported to the site and lifted into position and connected together over a five-day period, after which the internal and external finishing process commenced.

Internal finishing times on site were greatly reduced as the modules were approximately 80% complete before they were installed.

Sugden Way is the first of two developments Rollalong is creating in Barking and Dagenham; it will also deliver a three-storey apartment block featuring six individual apartments at Mellish Close.