BIDS to build 156 low-cost homes in North Yorkshire are being backed by North Yorkshire County Council.

Funding of £12.3m will include £3.3m from the county authority and £3.2m from the Housing Corporation.

North Yorkshire County Council chief executive, Jeremy Walker said that latest figures showed there was a need for 2,500 affordable homes a year for the next few years in North Yorkshire.

This, he said, compares with the actual provision of less than 600 a year since 1997.

The council has already agreed to earmark nearly £2m arising from the additional revenue from a reduction in the discount on council tax for second homes.

The county council has been working with the district councils of Hambleton, Ryedale, Harrogate, Scarborough, Craven, Selby, and Richmondshire to develop a partnership which has now been backed by the Government's Housing Corporation.

Affordable homes schemes in the first phase are Harrogate, 41 homes costing £3.4m; Ryedale, 32 (£2.8m); Scarborough 30 (£2.5m); Richmondshire 27 (£1.3m); Hambleton 22 (£1.8m); Craven 4 (£455,000).

Mr Walker said in a report to the county council's executive that the original bid for schemes had totalled 225 homes at a cost of £6.1m, but this exceeded available funding.

Future schemes include shared equity homes, said the report. The executive is to receive a further report on the schemes.