PLANS to build a possible 60 homes on a prime site in York may not happen for at least another three years.

City of York Council is looking at a number of sites across the city where it might be able to build 'affordable housing' on council owned land as part of their Housing Delivery Programme (HDP).

At a meeting of the council executive next week councillors are set to discuss a number of different locations, among them the former Askham Bar Park and Ride site, where York's Covid vaccination centre has been based since late 2020.

The 3.8 acre site on the edge of the city has a draft housing allocation in the local plan for 60 homes.

Councillors will also look at the level of affordable housing at Burnholme and Duncombe Barracks in Clifton, where it's proposed to increase from 40 per cent to over 60 per cent. Of these homes, around 40 per cent will be for shared ownership and 20 per cent will be for social rent.

Talking about the Askham Bar site, a report going before the executive says: "The site is currently leased to Nimbuscare Ltd as York’s primary Covid vaccination centre.

"This use will continue well into next year. The contractual term of their current lease will expire on September 24 this year, though there is a possibility that this may need to be temporarily extended.

"The site therefore is unlikely to be available for development for at least 20 months.

"Nimbus Care has been made aware that the site is committed for housing in the local plan. The HDP is funded from the Housing Revenue Account. This funding stream is subject to constraints in the amount of borrowing that can take place at one time. It is therefore unlikely that the programme will have the capacity to take forward Askham Bar for another 3 years." 

Councillors are being asked to reaffirm the future use of the site for housing and to ask officers to explore different options for delivering a scheme on the site that would deliver a minimum 40 per cent of affordable housing and deliver zero carbon development, with potential for delivering other community facilities.

They are also looking to extend the current Nimbuscare lease.

As previously reported by The Press, the executive will also consider a proposal to build on the Spark:York site in Piccadilly.

Cllr Nigel Ayre, executive member for finance, said: “The UK construction market is experiencing higher levels of inflation than predicted, largely due to material shortages resulting from the pandemic and Brexit.

“These challenges, which are far beyond council’s control, clearly impact on our major house building programme. I’m glad that we have been able to find the most sustainable way to address this by providing an extra 20 per cent affordable housing for the city. We are also progressing forward with other development sites while making sure the assets are maximised for the public in the interim.”

Cllr Denise Craghill, executive member for housing, said: “I’m delighted to see our Housing Delivery Programme developing at pace and further improving its offer. The recommendation to increase the number of zero-carbon affordable homes to 60 per cent is very encouraging. We have to find ways of delivering on both low carbon and affordability and this demonstrates that it can be done.”

Executive will meet on Thursday (March 17) at 5.30pm.