Here’s how the new Plaid Cymru government could end homelessness in Wales

Plaid Cymru do not have an overall majority in the Senedd, so will need to rely on politicians in other parties in order to pass legislation and their annual budgets. Nevertheless, there is lots that the government can do without passing new legislation.

They can accelerate the implementation of the new Homelessness Act in order to provide better services to people who need them right now. They can also implement the recommendations of the Ending Homelessness National Advisory Board, including on rapid rehousing, and on pay and conditions for the housing support workforce.

The whole housing and homelessness sector agrees and is ready to implement these changes, if we have clear direction and leadership from the Welsh government.

“Plaid Cymru committed to outline proposals to make renting fairer, and to begin legislative work for a human right to adequate housing”

Before the election, Plaid Cymru set out a lot of detail about what it wanted to do on housing should it be elected, in its manifesto and plan for the first 100 days in power. 

The party said that one of the first things it would do would be to establish ‘Unnos’ as a national development body to support local authorities and housing associations to finance and build more social housing. It also committed to outline proposals to make renting fairer, and to begin legislative work for a human right to adequate housing.

These are both areas of work supported by Welsh organisations like The Wallich, and indeed there was cross-party and cross-sector consensus on the need to embed the right to housing in Welsh law in a recent white paper consultation.

The Wallich is the largest third-sector provider of homelessness and housing support services in Wales, working with more than 7,000 people every year to prevent and alleviate homelessness, creating hope for a brighter future. We know what needs to be done.

Previous Welsh governments consulted extensively with industry experts to understand how we make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated. However, the wheels of government move very slowly. While lots of good work has happened and should continue, we clearly need to renew focus.

Before the election, The Wallich published its own manifesto outlining key priorities for the next Welsh government. The government needs to accelerate the programme of social housebuilding across Wales and ensure that the total number of social homes (as well as the percentage) increases year on year. This also means refitting the estimated 103,000 empty or under-occupied homes to meet the needs of local communities.

Secondly, the government has to commit to sustainably funding housing support services for the long term. These services are expensive to deliver, but the preventative nature of the work is proven to save significant future costs to other public services such as health, social services and criminal justice.

“The government must fully enact the recently passed Homelessness and Social Housing Allocations (Wales) Act 2026 as soon as possible”

Thirdly, the government must fully enact the recently passed Homelessness and Social Housing Allocations (Wales) Act 2026 as soon as possible. This wide-ranging bill not only extends the homelessness prevention duty from 58 days to six months, but also creates a duty on all public services to co-operate in identifying and supporting people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. It’s good policy, supported across the sector, and the wheel just needs to start rolling on it.

Finally, the government must radically improve the accessibility of physical and mental health services and prioritise a harm-reduction approach to drug and alcohol use. Many services are currently inaccessible, so there must be no wrong door when people take the brave decision to ask for help.

From engagement with Plaid Cymru candidates before the election, there is a sense that there are those within the party who understand the scale of the challenge and what is needed to address it, and the new cabinet minister cannot afford to waste any time.

There is real ambition to finally end homelessness in Wales. With more than 10,000 people in temporary accommodation (including over 2,000 children), as well as over 150 people sleeping rough, and the dial on those numbers stagnating for the last few years, this has never been more urgent.

The action needed will of course be very expensive for the new government, which is facing huge challenges across the whole range of policy areas, but the financial and human costs of failing to meet the scale of the homelessness challenge will be even higher.

There’s quiet hope among the people of Wales for positive change on housing. However, as with any new government making many promises, they can expect a relentless focus from the sector to ensure housing and homelessness do not fall off the radar, as the mechanics of government so often get in the way.

Thomas Lavery, policy and public affairs co-ordinator, The Wallich