York hostel project in disarray, after builders call in liquidators

City of York Council agreed in 2014 to tear down and replace the Ordnance Lane hostel, off Fulford Road. Last summer a planning application was submitted for new modular buildings to house 57 new flats either as temporary accommodation or social housing. The new buildings were to be mainly constructed off-site to speed up the process.

The project was immediately hit with objections from neighbours and heritage campaigners who did not want to see the Victorian former military hospital building destroyed, but it has now emerged Bay Construct, the company signed up to build the new facility, has been in the hands of liquidators since October 2016.

Planning documents show permission has not been granted, and no progress has been made on the case since July, and a council spokesman confirmed that with the developers in liquidation staff are considering options for the project.

He added: “We still have a commitment to replacing the temporary accommodation.

“We are considering the options, and they will have to discussed and debated.”

Oakhaven, a council care home in Acomb which closed in March last year, was to be converted so people currently at Ordnance Lane could be “decanted” while the new accommodation was built.

Temporary planning permission was given for the Oakhaven proposals in August with the intention that work would start in the autumn.

However, nothing has happened at the Acomb site and the council has confirmed Ordnance Lane is still being used as temporary accommodation for homeless people.

The Ordnance Lane buildings were originally built as living quarters for staff at the nearby military hospital. Their destruction was opposed by Fishergate Planning Panel and Fulford and Fishergate Local History Group, who said demolishing interesting and unique parts of the buildings would be a significant loss for the area, and the new buildings were not appropriate for the area.