SHADOW housing minister Emma Reynolds has been given a guided tour around the new housing development on the former Terry's factory site.

Paul Newman, managing director of David Wilson Homes, told her how the firm was helping to meet the city's acute housing need at The Chocolate Works development.

He said the company had appointed award-winning architects to deliver a mix of market-priced and affordable homes on a site which had lain derelict for eight years.

The shadow minister was in York as part of a nationwide consultation with local Labour party members and the general public about how they would like to see housing policy shape up under a future Labour Government.

York council leader James Alexander said she saw an example of how the authority was working with developers to get much needed housing off the ground, showing flexibility on the affordable allocation.