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Almost 34 per cent of people in North Yorkshire who are on the council’s waiting list for affordable homes are based in the Scarborough area, according to a recently published report. The ‘Scarborough legacy area’ is defined as the area for which the now-defunct Scarborough Borough Council had responsibility before it was amalgamated into North Yorkshire Council in 2023. “The total number of active applications on the North Yorkshire Choices housing register is 6,987, of which 2,374 are for the Scarborough legacy area,” according to council officers who prepared a report for an upcoming meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Planning Committee. Housing issues are also on the agenda at next week’s full meeting of North Yorkshire Council. Coun Simon Myers, the executive member for arts, culture, and housing, said that NYC had “obtained an additional four units of NYC temporary accommodation in Scarborough for families”. The executive member said this would improve the offer “so families are not required to enter emergency placements and, if so, they are for short periods”. Across the county, homelessness and housing advice approaches have remained at a similar level to the same period last year, with 1,351 households seeking advice and assistance, a report prepared for the full meeting states. The report notes: “Of these, 644 households have made a formal homelessness application. Among the 707 households that received housing advice, many were supported before reaching the point of homelessness. “This early intervention often involves signposting to appropriate support to save the current accommodation or offering alternative housing options, enabling planned moves that benefit the customer, their housing provider, and local authority resources.” Coun Myers also stated that last month saw an increase in the number of households residing within emergency temporary accommodation, “following a gradual decline over the last six months”. He added: “A plan is in place to look at all aspects to reduce this, including around the use of our general temporary accommodation stock and the processes to reduce the barriers for people to move on.”
