CASH to provide starter homes for young people in Addingham is still sitting in a Bradford Council bank account - 15 months after being handed over by a housing developer, the Gazette can reveal.

Villagers are fuming that while the exclusive estate of houses, which cost around £200,000 each, has been built, not one 'affordable' house has been constructed in the village. And according to Bradford Council - which currently holds £387,810 of such commuted cash across the district - there are no plans at present to use the £28,000 handed over by Redrow.

Addingham Parish Council chairman Alan Jerome has called for a change in the rules to prevent an exodus of young people because they can't afford to live in their home village.

Despite fierce opposition in the village, Redrow Homes (Yorkshire) Limited was given planning permission to construct 22 executive houses on an estate on Skipton Road, in October 1998. One of the conditions of planning permission being granted was that the developer had to hand over money to Bradford Council to help to provide 'affordable homes' for residents.

Kept in special account

A spokesman for the council said: "Redrow Homes, the developers of the Skipton Road estate, paid a commuted sum of £28,000 to the council on October 30, 1998.

"The council agreed this should be used to help pay for affordable housing within the Parliamentary constituency and that every effort would be made to provide this in the Addingham area. The money, which cannot be used for any other purpose, is being kept in a special account until it is possible to develop such a scheme."

Craven District Tory Councillor David Harrison said he was worried that the money could be spent elsewhere in the Keighley area. "They put houses up on a site and they donate this money into a pool. It will be spent somewhere else," said Coun Harrison.

Bradford Council chief executive Ian Stewart has promised parish councillors that he would be looking into the problem of affordable housing in Addingham.

The money handed over by developers cannot be used by the council to build houses but it allows them to provide land for a combination of housing associations and developers to provide starter homes. Coun Jerome said: "We want the money to be spent in the village - we are concerned that young people cannot stay in the village."

Land available in village

He said that the rules should be changed so that any money generated by developers in Addingham should be spent in the village instead of anywhere else in the Keighley area.

When he learned that the money handed over by Redrow had not been used at all, Coun Jerome replied: "That's terrible - that is even worse."

Addingham Parish Councillor Danny Palmer said Bradford Council owned land in Addingham where affordable houses could be built. Recently Crest Homes, which is developing the former college site in Ilkley, has handed over a sum for affordable housing to Bradford Council believed to be in the region of £500,000.

Ilkley Parish and District Councillor Anne Hawkesworth has urged planners to use it as quickly as possible to help provide starter homes in Ilkley.

"It seems rather ridiculous that this money (the Redrow sum) has been in the bank for such a long time," said Coun Hawkesworth.

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