North Yorkshire Council set to approve Lovell housing joint venture
A green light for the partnership would pave the way for the delivery of more than 600 homes across two initial development sites.
Members of the council’s Executive will be asked to sign off the establishment of a 50:50 limited liability partnership with Lovell at their meeting next week, following preferred bidder negotiations that have been ongoing since the authority approved the principle of the partnership in June 2025.
The joint venture has been designed to accelerate the delivery of high-quality, environmentally sustainable housing while increasing the supply of affordable homes across the county.
Under the proposed model, the council will contribute land into the partnership, with Lovell matching its value through development funding. Any profits, after repayment of funding, will be shared equally between the two partners.
The procurement established a framework for a 30-year partnership with a potential contract value of up to £3.9bn, although the council is not committed to using the vehicle for all future housing sites.
Executive members are being asked to approve the conditional disposal of two council-owned sites into the joint venture. These include Sandsend Road in Whitby, where around 60 homes are proposed, including 18 affordable properties, and Eastfield in Scarborough, which is expected to deliver 548 homes.
The Eastfield scheme would include 196 affordable homes, representing 35% of the overall development. While 55 affordable homes would meet existing planning policy requirements, a further 141 homes would be delivered above policy levels through the joint venture.
Two additional sites at Rievaulx Road, Whitby, and Sharphaw Avenue, Skipton, have been identified as part of a future pipeline but will not form part of the initial phase because of their complexity.
Instead, Lovell would receive an exclusivity period to develop viable proposals before any decision is taken on bringing the sites into the partnership.
According to the report, Lovell will act as both development manager and principal contractor for the joint venture. The agreement includes open-book reporting, benchmarking and market testing to provide transparency and demonstrate value for money, while allowing construction arrangements to be reviewed over time.
The Executive is also being asked to approve the creation of a £5m council budget funded from initial capital and revenue receipts generated by the venture.
The funding would support the partnership’s early activities, including providing loan finance to the LLP, while the council would also be able to enter into forward purchase agreements to acquire completed homes for its Housing Revenue Account as part of its wider housing delivery programme.
