Harrogate council pumps £10m into housing company to tackle 'desperate' need of affordable homes
Harrogate Borough Council will pump an extra £10m of loaned cash into its new commercial housing company Bracewell Homes.
Senior councillors have approved the move to bolster the company's finances as it looks to tackle the "desperate" need of more affordable homes in the district.
Harrogate is one of the most unaffordable places to live in England, with average house prices around 11 times the average annual income of people who work in the town.
There are around 3,000 households currently on the district's housing waiting list - and more than 1,200 in Harrogate itself.
Bracewell Homes was set up by the council last year with the aim to generate income through rents and deliver 40 housing units by 2024.
The council said while it has had a successful start, the sale of properties has been "slightly slower than anticipated".
Last month, the council's cabinet agreed to purchase 52 homes in Pannal Ash at a cost of £4.5m to boost social rented and shared ownership housing stock.
Sixteen of the homes at Whinney Lane will be sold under shared ownership by Bracewell Homes and the rest will be made available for social rent.
The company has also earmarked other sites in the district to develop, including Frogmire in Knaresborough.
Councillor Stanley Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport, told a meeting: "We desperately need shared equity housing and social housing in the Harrogate district and this vision is an excellent way to try to support that."
Council leader Richard Cooper added: "It is certainly a record that the council should be very proud of the way in which it supports people who are less fortunate than the vast majority.
"I'm really pleased that we are finding more ways of doing that. I'm also very grateful of officers for their creativity to bring homes forward for those who can't afford them, which is a lot of people in the Harrogate district."
By Jacob Webster, Local Democracy Reporter