ON the face of it, there is little to encourage would-be first time buyers in what John Reeves has to say about affordable property in today’s Press.

The chairman of York-based developer and property investor The Helmsley Group points out that this is a hugely attractive city in a relatively small island with strict planning laws that is possibly the most highly populated country in the Western world.

“We live in an overpopulated city with little spare land and huge demand,” he points out.

All of which drives up the price of property. Attempts by the local authority to use planning rules to impose targets for affordable housing in new developments simply stifles development further, he claims. And we can’t keep relying on York Central or the British Sugar site to deliver all the new homes we need. So how are we ever going to build decent homes that younger people can afford to buy which will get them on the housing ladder?

He has no hard-and-fast answers. But he does come up with some genuinely innovative ideas. How about asking farmers to accept planning permission for affordable homes only on their land? That way their land would be more valuable than if used for agriculture - but far less expensive than if it had permission for homes sold at market prices.

Or how about allowing supermarkets to build housing above their shops - but only discounted homes for sale? Or allowing holiday lodges that are restricted to holiday lets be used for rental homes?

All these suggestions come with their own problems. But it is good to see someone trying to think outside the box. If we’re ever to solve York’s affordable housing crisis, we’ll need to do more of that.