COUNCIL bosses are being accused of ignoring York’s affordable housing crisis, by not planning any new council house building since they took office over a year ago.

Labour councillors have voiced serious fears about affordable housing in the city, saying the current Conservative and Lib Dem joint leadership is not taking the situation seriously and is not fighting for York amid growing Government changes.

Labour’s Cllr David Levene said: “We have serious concerns about how committed local Conservatives, and most notably the council leader, are to affordable housing in York. No new council housing has been commissioned since the last local election and we could see the council’s housing stock lost with almost no ability to deliver new stock to replace right to buy sales as things stand.”

The council leader David Carr has rebuffed the accusations, saying his council administration is committed to affordable housing - and is pushing hard for a Local Plan which will deliver hundreds of new affordable homes.

They are continuing the council house building programme started under Labour, he added, but the city has a severe shortage of sites while the authority has to allocate its money carefully.

The pair also clashed over York’s affordability, with Cllr Levene accusing the leader of being “completely out of touch” for calling the city “relatively affordable”, when statistics from charity Shelter say it is the most unaffordable city in the whole of the north - something Cllr Carr said referred to first-time buyers, who they are trying to help through things like shared ownership and starter home projects.

At the same time, Labour is objecting to a bid to remove the lowest “bronze” eligibility level on the council house waiting list - something they branded dismissing a group of people because the council is struggling to meet their housing need.

Cllr Carr said the plan, which has not been confirmed, was aimed at allocating scarce housubg resources at those who need them most.