Plans to speed up the delivery of affordable homes to meet the growing demand in North Yorkshire are set to be considered by councillors.

North Yorkshire Council is proposing to enter into a joint venture with Lovell Partnerships Ltd, a nationally renowned housing developer, to build more homes across the county.

The planned scheme would help accelerate the delivery of high-quality, environmentally sustainable homes with a strong focus on affordable housing, particularly in coastal areas.

Under the proposal, the council and Lovell would work as equal partners, sharing the risks and rewards, while unlocking the potential to deliver new homes, infrastructure and green spaces at pace.

The Government has set the council a target of delivering more than 4,000 new homes a year, and the joint venture would support this ambition. The affordable homes delivered through the proposed partnership would be taken on by the authority in its role as a social landlord, contributing to its aim to increase its housing stock by at least 500 new homes.

As part of the planned partnership with Lovell, two sites in Scarborough and Whitby that were already allocated for development could deliver more than 600 new properties, including 226 affordable homes.

The proposals are due to be considered by members of the council’s executive committee when they meet on Tuesday next week (July 14).

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for housing, Cllr Simon Myers, said: “This proposed partnership gives us a real opportunity to have greater control and help us better shape how new homes are delivered across the county.

“By working with a trusted partner and using land we already own, we can accelerate the delivery of high-quality housing, including much-needed affordable homes, so that more families have the opportunity to live in the communities they want to.

“Rather than simply selling land to private developers, this approach would also allow us to retain influence over what is built and when – helping us to deliver new homes and the supporting infrastructure they need, while promoting sustainable communities.

“As demand for housing continues to grow, particularly in our coastal and rural areas, this is an important step towards delivering the right homes in the right places for the people of North Yorkshire.

“This will be carefully considered by members of the executive at next week’s meeting.”

The proposed joint venture builds on earlier work carried out by the former borough council, which identified Lovell as its preferred partner through a formal tender process.

Under the refined scheme, North Yorkshire Council would provide land for development with Lovell matching its value through funding. Profit would then be shared equally between the two organisations.

Coastal communities in North Yorkshire are particularly affected by a lack of affordable housing, as second home ownership and holiday lets push up rents and house prices.

The first sites earmarked for development as part of the proposed joint venture have been identified at Sandsend Road in Whitby and Eastfield in Scarborough.

At Sandsend Road, 60 homes would be built and at Eastfield approximately 550 homes could be developed, both of which will include affordable housing.

The regeneration and partnerships director for Lovell, Mary Parsons, said: “Lovell has always been a partnerships developer, working with our public sector partners to deliver the homes that their area needs.

“This proposed joint venture is a great example of this and would enable new homes to be delivered in the county at pace, with both partners committed to maximising the number of new council affordable homes that can be delivered and ensuring that local firms and communities benefit from this major investment.”

To oversee the partnership, a joint venture board has been proposed which would comprise of three representatives from the council and three from Lovell.

Among the recommendations to be presented to the council’s executive committee next week include a proposal to use initial capital and revenue receipts from the joint venture -up to £5 million – to create a council budget to support the partnership.

The report can be viewed or downloaded as a PDF here: Executive report on housing joint venture