No change in York house prices

That is the verdict of estate agents in the region as worries about the economy, interest rate rises and a tougher line on mortgage lending start to bite into the housing market, with many buyers staying away.

National figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) show prices are dropping at their fastest rate for two years, while the number of people looking to buy a home also plummeted.

In North Yorkshire, the housing market has levelled off rather than heading downward, but RICS member Edward Waterson of Carter Jonas estate agents in York admits it is suffering from cold feet.

"As yet, there is no evidence of any significant fall in prices in York and North Yorkshire," he said. "However, the froth has gone out of the market and vendors are having to be more realistic than they would have been at the start of the year.

"We will wait and see how the pattern develops and things will become clearer as we go towards Christmas. But the market never thieves on uncertainty, and there are many uncertain factors around."

Kevin Hollinrake, director of York estate agency Hunters, believes General Election speculation has done the housing market few favours.

"The market in this area is holding steady, but we're not seeing any growth and that's unusual," he said.

"If that continues for an extended period - probably until next spring - we would then start to see falling prices, and I certainly wouldn't expect any growth in the market until next March or April as well. We're still getting plenty of enquiries, but the number of actual sales has fallen by around 35 per cent.

"There are several reasons for the slowdown, such as rising interest rates, the introduction of Home Information Packs and uncertainty caused by election fever, which inevitably makes people more cautious. However, all these factors have stabilised now."

Across the UK during September, 14.6 per cent more surveyors experienced a drop in house prices than those reporting a rise, compared to a 3.3 per cent gap in August, with East Anglia, Wales and the Midlands bearing the brunt, The RICS painted a pessimistic picture about the outlook for prices and buyers as house price growth reached its lowest level since May 2005, while the number of new properties coming onto the market fell for the fourth month in a row across every UK area except London.

Just what is affordable?'

A FIRM of builders is calling on City of York Council to let people know what is meant by the term "affordable homes".

York-based firm Hogg The Builder claims not enough people understand the term and it could be crucial in the coming weeks as residents are asked to take part in a huge city-wide consultation exercise.

People in York will be able to vote' on the issues they feel are important for the city later this month, as part of the second Festival of Ideas.

Geoff Scott, of Hogg The Builder, claims the term "affordable homes" is not fully explained as part of the process and that there is a danger residents may not fully understand its implications.

Mr Scott said the danger is that most people will think it is starter homes for first-time buys when the Government definition is social housing, or Housing Association Homes.

He said: "We believe the Government targets to build 850 new homes in York each year from 2008 until 2026 is unachievable due to the current 50 per cent social housing requirement on developments of 15 or more homes and are concerned that the current policy is resulting in very few homes of any kind being developed."

The Festival of Ideas 2 is being organised by York's Local Strategic Partnership, Without Walls, and City of York Council's City Development team and runs until October 31.

Bill Woolley, city strategy director, said: "We want to find out what people's priorities are, so we can try to ensure we make York the best place possible to live, work and visit."

The results from the festival will be used to revise the vision and community strategy and to develop the council's core strategy document.