The Conservative Group has managed to get cross party support for an amendment to a recent motion on the Local Plan which was passed at Full Council on Thursday 19th September. In a motion about the Local Plan and responding to the government’s consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework, Cllr Martin Rowley proposed that the motion include a request from City of York Council to request the government remove any new purpose built student accommodation units from its housing targets imposed on the Council. The amendment was carried unanimously. It is a simple but effective amendment which will if passed would see a change to how housing completion numbers are calculated and ensure York better meets the housing needs of residents.
Cllr Rowley, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group, said
It seems ridiculous that in a city where there are two universities, the purpose built student accommodations units are allowed to offset the residential dwelling target, therefore, reducing the number of real homes that the City desperately need. We as a city are fortunate that we have many thousands of students in the city who make a great contribution to so many parts of our lives. However we must accept there are issues related to the supply, one of these is that when we need homes for long standing York residents then student accommodation simply doesn’t meet this and it will lead to us undersupplying housing for families if we focus on the current methodology.
