A loss-making council-owned housebuilder has been accused of “reneging” on a legal commitment to pay towards community facilities agreed when planning permission was granted for a new housing estate.
Brierley Homes, which is owned by North Yorkshire Council, was granted planning permission for the 33-house Laverton Oaks development in Kirkby Malzeard on the condition that it contributed more than £110,000 towards sports facilities, community areas and the village hall.
However, councillors on the authority’s shareholder committee were told this week that it was “no longer viable” for Brierley Homes to pay the full amount.
The company will now submit an application to the council’s strategic planning committee to have the contribution reduced.
Councillor Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, member for the Masham and Fountains division, said it was “not a good look for the council” to be seeking a reduction.
She added: “We were assured when the company was set up that it would be delivering value for money and be able to accelerate the house building programme.
“No one expected them to be losing money and reneging on their obligations to the community, so it’s very disappointing.”
Kirkby Malzeard, Laverton and Dallowgill Parish Council is due to discuss the update on Monday (JULY 27).
The committee heard that while the Brierley Group of companies made a pre-tax profit of more than £2m for the year, Brierley Homes made a £7.8m loss.
Officers said there were a number of reasons for the loss, with some sites costing more to complete than originally envisaged, original costs not being accurate, delays in construction leading to more interest being paid and delays completing sales.
In response to a question from Councillor George Jabbour highlighting the difference between the 2025/26 forecast profit of £350,000 in October 2025, and the forecast loss of £7.8m in the latest report, officers described the October figure as “unrealistic”.
The committee noted Cllr Jabbour’s concerns in relation to the withdrawal of the Brierley Group performance report from the March 2026 meeting and his request that future meetings of the shareholder committee receive an update on the group’s performance.
Councillor Peter Wilkinson, the new finance executive portfolio holder, said he shared members’ concerns about the difference between the initial forecast and current losses.
Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Carl Les, leader of the authority and chair of the shareholder committee, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the trigger point in which Brierley Homes had to pay the community funding had not yet been reached so the company did not yet owe anything.
He said: “Brierley Homes has found that the site conditions and other matters are more expensive than was first anticipated so that is having an impact on the project costs.
“Like any other developer, one of their options is to ask the council if it would alter the terms of the conditions, and that’s what it’s done, but it would then have to go to a planning committee for them to agree it.”
Cllr Les said a new chief executive, Tony Dodds, was in place who had drawn up a plan on how to manage the company better going forward.
He added: “It is not a good time to be building houses. Even the very successful big companies are struggling at the moment right now, and we’ve asked Brierley to actually do things other like building more affordable houses where the margins are smaller.
“I think Tony Dodds’ recovery plan has every chance of being successful, and we will keep monitoring it and we will keep making sure that it goes in the right direction.”
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