North Yorkshire Council has approved a £30 million expenditure to build two purpose-built care and support hubs, including a £16.9 million facility in Scarborough, to replace older care homes in Whitby, Filey, and Harrogate.
Senior officers at North Yorkshire Council have approved an expenditure totalling more than £30 million to replace three ageing care homes with two new purpose-built care and support hubs.
The local authority proposes that a £16.9 million hub will be built in Middle Deepdale in Eastfield, Scarborough. This new development will replace the existing Silver Birches home in Filey and the Larpool Lane home in Whitby.
A second facility, costing £15.7 million, has been earmarked for a site in Ainsty Road, Harrogate, which will replace the town's Station View care home.
Both of the new council-run hubs will feature 60 beds. They are designed to provide care to people leaving hospital who require bed-based intermediate care, as well as offering specialist support for dementia sufferers.
The decision comes as a response to growing pressures on health and adult services budgets, which have been heavily impacted by the rising demand for dementia care.
In Scarborough, residential dementia placements, as a proportion of all residential care placements, have increased by ten per cent over the last two years. A similar trend was seen in Harrogate, which recorded a twelve per cent increase in the same period.
Hannah Brown, the council’s commissioning and provider services development manager, stated in a report that the hubs were proposed as part of a market management intervention to address these escalating financial pressures:
"One of the main drivers of the pressures on HAS budgets is the requirement to purchase increasing levels of high-cost specialist residential dementia care in the independent care sector.
The cost of such provision is often further increased by the requirement to fund additional 1:1 hours to meet a person’s needs, which is not only costly but can represent a highly restrictive model of care."
Council officers have calculated that the introduction of the two new hubs would save the local authority up to £6.3 million a year.
The existing coastal homes in Filey and Whitby were both constructed in the 1970s and require major investment to remain safe. The council notes that more than £1.1 million has already been spent on maintenance across these sites over the past four years, with an estimated £3.5 million needed in the years ahead.
Similarly, the Harrogate facility, built in 1981, faces maintenance costs that have already exceeded £300,000 over four years, with a further £1.9 million required for repairs and fire safety works expected in the coming years.
According to council officers, the new hubs have been designed using dementia care best practice. The new buildings will feature safe and accessible layouts, adaptable spaces, and specialist features aimed at supporting rehabilitation, independence, and long-term care needs.
Planning permission for the facilities is due to be sought this summer. Construction work is scheduled to start in June 2027, with the hubs expected to open their doors to residents in August 2028.
This project is part of a broader £60 million overhaul of dementia care in the county. As part of this wider strategy, three more care and support hubs are planned to replace four other ageing care homes in the future.
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