A Lords housing minister has said there needs to be a ‘generational boost’ to social housing in places such as Scarborough and Whitby.
The Lords minister for housing and local government, Baroness Taylor of Stevenage, has called for a “boost to social housing” in coastal areas including Scarborough and Whitby.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), she said:
“A generational change to social housing is what we need in our coastal and rural areas where there’s high demand for properties for holiday lets.”
It comes as Alison Hume, Labour MP for Scarborough and Whitby, asked the government to “move at pace” to allow councils new licensing and planning powers to address a lack of housing, especially on the Yorkshire coast.
Earlier this year, the Conservative-led North Yorkshire Council (NYC) voted to approve a 100 per cent premium for council tax bills on second homes in the county from April 2025.
The authority said the tax could raise up to £16.5m a year in additional revenue which could be put into building more affordable housing.
NYC also approved an “ambitious” plan to build at least 500 council homes in the county in May.
Kate Henderson, the chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said:
“We are a rich, developed country but we still have 300,000 children sharing a bed, and we are not housing our people adequately.”
Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool, she added:
“It’s important to recognise that there are huge challenges facing social housing providers, even more challenges for those in housing need.”
A Government consultation on changes to national planning policy closed this week as part of an effort to “achieve sustainable growth in our planning system”.
Asked what changes and powers she would like to see handed to local government, Baroness Taylor told the LDRS:
“We want to make sure, first of all, that local people get a voice in what’s going on.
“That includes making sure there’s proper consultation with them and that the correct amount of social and affordable housing is built into any development.”
She added:
“If we are using land that is designated as greenfield or greenbelt land, then we need to make sure that that does have a very high percentage of social and affordable housing.”
Following plans for housing developments in Scarborough and Whitby, concerns have been raised by the health ICB, town councils, and residents, about a lack of infrastructure and services to support new residents.
Baroness Taylor recognised that it was “very much” an issue in coastal communities.
Speaking to the LDRS she said:
“If we’re going to deliver housing, we need the infrastructure to go with it, so we’ll need to work very closely with our developers so that they do their part in supporting the delivery of that infrastructure.”
She also highlighted that devolution, including in York and North Yorkshire with the creation of a combined authority, was part of giving local government greater power:
“The people who are there at the local level know what’s needed in that area.
“They’ll know what kind of transport, leisure and culture, and health infrastructure is needed and then they can build that into their local plans.”
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