A RYEDALE village is set to get more affordable homes after councillors approved plans for a new housing scheme.

Under the venture, six affordable houses and 11 open-market houses will be erected on land west of Station Road, in Nawton.

The 0.56 hectare site, which was formerly in agricultural use, forms the corner of Station Road with the A170. Ryedale district councillors granted outline planning permission at a meeting earlier this week.

A report by planning officers at the council stated that the site was outside the development limits for Beadlam and Nawton as defined in the Ryedale local plan.

However, they said the principle of developing the site was not unacceptable, as this scheme will help the council meet its housing supply target.

The report, which was considered by councillors at the meeting, stated: “Nawton/Beadlam together is defined as a service village where new small-scale housing sites providing a limited amount of open-market development would be acceptable in principle.” The scheme approval came after a report revealed that the average house price in Ryedale was more than 15 times the typical annual income of a person in the area.

The National Housing Federation’s Home Truths 2008 – Yorkshire & Humberside report showed that, in 2007, the average income in the area was £15,262, but the average house price in Ryedale was £239,051 – 15.7 times more than the average income in the area. The report said the national average was 11.2 times average income.