New homes on railway land 'for all walks of life'

New homes built on former railway land will "offer something for people from all walks of life", a developer has said.

Officers from City of York Council's corporate services, climate change and scrutiny management committee heard updates on Monday about plans to build on the York Central site.

A planning application for some of the 2,500 homes is set to be lodged at the end of June 2025 as part of the first phase of the development, as well as plans for office space, a hotel and public green space.

Tom Gilman, managing director of McLaren Regeneration, which is one of the developers overseeing the project, told councillors work on the homes could begin in 2026 and finish by 2028.

Mr Gilman said: "York Central is 60% of the area of the walled city; our aspiration with the homes is to offer something for people from all walks of life and age groups, it shouldn't be an oasis of privilege.

"The business district aims to create a cluster of companies that can all work off the back of each other.

"The office space is key to the growth of York's economy and for providing jobs for future residents. If you look at York its (population has) got a high level of education but there isn't the jobs so people go to Leeds and Manchester.

"The space will be designed to appeal to the market, the innovation hub will be designed to attract the core industries as well as start-ups."

Councillors also heard that the developers were aiming to make 40% of the homes affordable, up from the 20% agreed when initial outline plans were approved in 2019.

The committee was told that developers wanted to rent them at below the technically affordable rate of less than 80% of market value.

The updates followed the approval of a Government Hub office building for civil servants in July, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

McLaren Regeneration and Arlington Real Estate were also appointed as the key developers for the site in December 2023.

The first sections of new access infrastructure into the site are set to open in the spring, according to a council report.

All infrastructure works including two new bridges over the East Coast Main Line are set to be finished by winter 2026.

A planning application for a replacement for the Wilton Rise Footbridge which spans across the line is also set to be lodged in September.

The land is surrounded by railway lines and was previously used for the maintenance and storage of freight wagons.

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