York Central, Scarborough and Selby identified as priority development areas
The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority has proposed to establish three new mayoral development zones (MDZs) to “boost jobs, housing and regeneration.”
The plans, which are due to be approved at a cabinet meeting later this week, include Scarborough, the Selby Growth Zone and York Central.
MDZs are a tool available to devolved mayors to designate areas as a priority for development. They allow the mayor to lead on bringing together developers, landowners and the local authority to attract private sector investment and align public sector funding.
An initial £10m MDZ regeneration fund has been proposed to “kickstart the impact of the MDZs.”
The three locations have been selected due to their geographical significance and scale of investible opportunities for housing and commercial development as well as to address deprivation.
York Central is one of the largest city centre regeneration projects in the UK. Led by a public-private partnership between McLaren Property and Arlington Real Estate with Homes England and Network Rail, the £2bn mixed-use scheme is set to deliver 2,500 homes on land around York Central station.
Scarborough has been identified as having “major brownfield redevelopment opportunities, including quality leisure and tourism developments and prime commercial space opportunities.”
Development is currently underway to deliver 1,000 new homes at Middle Deepdale – an urban extension to the north of Eastfield, which will take around 10-15 years to complete. The development partners include Keepmoat, Kebell Homes, Linden Homes and extra care provider Sanctuary Group.
Selby is part of a large-scale regeneration programme led by North Yorkshire Council, which includes public realm improvements, new housing and the delivery of Olympia Park – a new business district.
Olympia Park developer BOCM Pauls originally received planning permission for the scheme in 2014, including for up to 863 new homes. In a 2024 briefing report, the council said “progress must be made in making the site more attractive to residents, investors and employers.”
David Skaith, mayor of the combined authority, said: “The three areas that will become MDZs have the ability to deliver thousands of new homes, unlock thousands of new and better jobs, and attract billions of pounds of investment into our region.
“Some of the sites are ready to go and just need that final push, others need the final pieces of investment to get them going. Each MDZ will tailored to get development going and delivered quicker.”
The proposals will be discussed at the authority’s cabinet meeting on 2 July 2026.
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