THE number of affordable homes built in Ryedale has been described as “disappointing” as it falls well below the target.

Members of Ryedale District Council’s overview and scrutiny committee have been told that as of the third quarter of 2017/18, just eight affordable homes have been built.

The target for the year is 75 affordable homes, which equates to 35 per cent of the 200 total houses built in the year.

The performance review report, which was discussed at their meeting last Thursday, added that “the forecast for 2017/18 is 50 expected affordable homes to be delivered, although this is subject to change”.

The Government’s definition of affordable housing is “social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market”.

Cllr Tim Thornton said: “At first sight it looks disappointing that we’ve delivered eight houses instead of the 75.”

Cllr John Clark, chairman of the committee, said that officers had previously warned that this figure was not going to be reached.

“We asked them to look into the target and how it was arrived at,” he said.

Other figures in the report revealed that Ryedale has the lowest earnings out of every district in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

The current gross weekly earnings by Ryedale residency is £446 in 2017/18.

In the Yorkshire and Humber region it’s £502.30, in the country as a whole it’s £552.70.

This has an impact on the “affordability ratio” of earnings to housing costs.

The report says: “On average, working people can expect to pay around 8.8 times their annual earnings on purchasing a home in 2016/17, up from 3.6 times earnings in 1997.”

The number of completed affordable homes built in the

district has been falling for several years, from more than a hundred in 2014/15 to 52 in 2016/17.

Also at the scrutiny meeting, the committee discussed the ongoing review into swimming lesson provision in the district, following discussions between leisure provider Everyone Active and the two local swimming clubs.

They said the review should conclude by next month.