TARGETS to build new homes in York have been missed for more than a decade.

Figures released by the BBC’s shared data unit showed that in England in 2016-17 - the last full year of data available for overall new homes supply rates - 217,000 new homes were created.

Although this was a five-year high, it still fell significantly short of the latest government target of 300,000 new homes a year, and the figures in York were still far below required levels.

A Government assessment found York needed to build 1,070 new homes each year to keep up with demand, while a City of York Council assessment said that figure was 867.

The last time that many new homes were built in the city was 2005-06, when 1,173 homes were built - still the highest figure since 2001-02 - while the lowest number built was in 2013-14, when just 69 were built.

Based on a 10-year average, the council met 34 per cent of Government targets, but Councillor Helen Douglas, City of York Council executive member for housing, said the figures were potentially misleading, and “don’t capture all the housing data in York”.

Cllr Douglas said the council had “actually reached 54 per cent against the government target over the last ten years, rising to 74 per cent over the last five”, as the BBC figures compared housing stock at the start of the year with “net gains and losses resulting from internal building control completions records and external privately inspected site records”, which “often under-reports”.

Cllr Douglas said: “York doesn’t have a problem permitting the right volume and quality of developments.

"We’ve granted planning permission for 8,300 homes over the last 11 years, and our draft Local Plan provides space for another 20,000 across its lifetime – around 4,000 of which would be available as affordable to rent or buy.

“This is a complex national issue.

"Most homes are delivered by private developers, and we’re taking significant action to overcome the really big challenges local authorities face – getting houses built more quickly, and making sure that more of these homes are genuinely affordable.”

Cllr Douglas also said the council was taking action to ensure the authority was able to better reach targets in future, and would “continue to do everything we can to get the right number and mix of homes for the city”.

She said: “We’re investing £40m to develop our own land to build homes which will be mixed tenure, coming to the market sooner, and with a larger proportion of affordable housing than the market would deliver.

“We’re also bidding for government money to accelerate housing delivery on key sites. We’re at an advanced stage of securing £67m for vital infrastructure works to bring forward the development of up to 3,800 homes, around 700 of which are likely to be affordable, at York Central and Clifton Gate.”