Willmott Dixon and Cityheart will build York's next council homes, starting with about 300 on five sites. Why the council changed its approach, and which sites.

City of York Council has signed a ten-year deal with developer Cityheart and builder Willmott Dixon to deliver its next wave of council homes. The first phase is expected to bring about 300 affordable homes on five council-owned sites (City of York Council, 20 October 2026).

The deal follows a failed tender. The council’s attempt to hire a builder for 101 homes at Ordnance Lane “did not result in a contract award”. To make its schemes more attractive to builders, councillors also dropped the requirement that new council homes be certified to the Passivhaus energy standard.

The five sites

The council names these for the first phase, all subject to further approvals:

  • Ordnance Lane, off Fulford Road
  • Willow House, Walmgate
  • Lowfield Green, Acomb
  • Castle Mills, Piccadilly
  • the former Manor School, Boroughbridge Road

The homes will be a mix of social rent and shared ownership. The April report says every home on these first sites will be affordable. Ordnance Lane and Willow House are expected to start first.

The council’s April report put the first phase at “over 315” homes, subject to planning and viability. This week’s announcement says “some 300”.

Why the council changed tack

The background is in the Executive report of 14 April 2026. It says the council’s housebuilding programme “has seen lower levels of market appetite” than expected.

It gives several reasons:

  • high inflation and fragile supply chains
  • builders reluctant to take on risk
  • the complexity of the council’s schemes as designed
  • the cost of meeting Passivhaus certification

The Executive agreed unanimously on 14 April to replace Passivhaus with the core of the Homes England Healthy Homes Standard and the Future Homes Standard (decision). The report says Passivhaus has “not had a sufficiently strong response from the market” and can add cost and time, sometimes significantly. New homes should still reach an EPC A rating wherever possible.

At that meeting the Opposition leader asked for the plan to go to scrutiny first, for a full look at lessons from past schemes. The Executive member replied that a previous procurement had failed and called it “the biggest council housing programme that had been seen in a generation”, according to the minutes.

How the deal works

The appointment was signed off by a council director on 15 October, under powers the Executive delegated in April (officer decision). It was not a key decision and is not open to call-in.

What the papers say about it:

  • About ten years, with possible five-year extensions if the partner performs.
  • No guaranteed work. Each site needs its own business case, and every major construction contract must go back to the Executive for approval.
  • The council keeps control of design, quality, tenure and specification. The partner manages design, planning and building.
  • Larger sites may follow, including NHS, Ministry of Defence and other public land, again subject to Executive decisions.
  • A social value plan paid for by the partner, covering apprenticeships, jobs and local suppliers.

The officer decision lists the options rejected. Hiring builders site by site would “duplicate procurement activity”. Selling the sites to housing associations would cut council rent income “and may not secure 100% affordable housing on all sites”.

Neither the announcement nor the decision gives a contract value.

What it means for you

  • If you are on the housing register, these are council homes for social rent and shared ownership. None will be built until each site’s business case is approved.
  • If you live near one of the sites, the council says it will consult on each scheme as it comes forward. Planning applications will follow the normal route; you can track them on our York planning news page.
  • Willow House already has planning permission for 36 homes. Our Willow House story explains why ten of them depend on a compulsory purchase of six garages.

Sources