TIMES change. People once left home on their wedding day, and sought a house in which to build a family.

Nowadays, fewer are tying the knot, and those that do leave it later. There is no denying the need for smaller, affordable homes, and in an urban area like York, that means flats.

Yet we do worry about the volume of flats springing up around our city. We welcome the warning issued today by Lord Best as he steps down from York's social housing giant, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. York needs family homes, too - as long as they are in the right location.