WITH regard to the letter of May 1, headlined “Expensive decision”, the council is already using its own brownfield sites to develop new council housing and has five sites which are either under construction or in the planning process.

Buying 14 flats on the site of the old Pack of Cards pub is value for money and provides an additional opportunity to help meet urgently needed affordable homes, while at the same time creating opportunities for people to downsize, freeing up larger homes.

We’re allocating £1.67 million for the acquisition, which is just over £119,000 per apartment.

This includes land acquisition, professional fees and building costs, and is comparable with the cost of building our own homes which, like these, are built to the Homes & Communities Agency standard.

Steve Waddington, Assistant Director – housing and community safety, City of York Council.