A significant milestone has been reached in the drive to deliver high-quality, affordable, and sustainable housing across York and North Yorkshire with the launch of a new Affordable Homes Standard.

Led by the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership, the Standard marks a united commitment from 23 housing organisations to ensure all new affordable homes in the region meet a consistent, high-quality benchmark—now and into the future.

The Standard outlines clear expectations for what good affordable housing should look like, including agreed specifications on space, energy efficiency, design quality, housing types, and adaptability to meet residents’ changing needs over time. A key goal is to ensure affordable homes are indistinguishable from market-sale properties.

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Environmental sustainability is central to the Standard, which calls for new homes to be built with high insulation, low carbon heating solutions such as heat pumps, and features that support local biodiversity, creating spaces where nature and communities can thrive side by side.

Crucially, all members of the Housing Partnership have pledged to only build or acquire homes that meet this Standard going forward, setting a new bar for affordable housing delivery in the region.

The initiative has received the full backing of David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, who highlighted the Standard's role in shaping future communities.

"We need to deliver the right homes in the right places, ensuring our next generation can stay and thrive in York and North Yorkshire. That ambition takes a big step forward with the launch of the Affordable Homes Standard.

"This sets a consistent, high-quality benchmark as we play our part and deliver on the national target of building 1.5 million homes.

"It means that we build more energy efficient homes with a better quality of design, built with nature in mind. That’s good news for our environment and for residents, who will benefit from lower energy bills.

"This underpins our commitment to create and support thriving communities and I look forward to working closely with the York and North Yorkshire Housing Partnership on delivering the homes we deserve and need."

The initiative is also backed by City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council, both members of the Partnership.