The City of York Council's local plan was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in May last year, and outlined a housing target of 867 homes per year. 

However, following concerns flagged by inspectors examining the plan, and a subsequent update by consultants of the council’s strategic housing market assessment, the figure has been reduced to 790 homes a year, a drop of 9%. A statement by the council said: "The reduction in the housing need figure reflects updated national projections for population and housing growth which forecast lower growth than was previously projected."

The proposed changes also include the removal of site allocations totalling 550 homes across 28 hectares at the Queen Elizabeth Barracks, Strensall. The council said the proposal to remove the proposed homes at Strensall is because it has not been able to rule out adverse effects on the nearby Strensall Common Special Area of Conservation.

The Council is also proposing a number of minor amendments to the green belt around the city. The new version of the plan identifies 21 sites for housing within the green belt, seven of which are considered to be strategic, meaning more than five hectares in size. In total, allocations within the current green belt are expected to deliver 7,769 homes over the plan period to 2032/33.

In October, planning inspectors asked the council to address "significant concerns" about the emerging local plan, particularly its housing target, before the document progresses to examination. Inspectors Simon Berkeley and Andrew McCormack said: "The evidence necessary to demonstrate that the 867 [dwellings per annum] figure used in the plan is properly justified is absent from the documents submitted so far. On the contrary, the evidence produced for and submitted by the council does rather more to suggest that the 867 dpa figure is not justified."

Residents and businesses in the city have six weeks to give their feedback on the proposed changes. The consultation can be found here.

CPRE North Yorkshire intend to respond to the consultaion by the deadline.