Critical priority

We have a housing crisis in Wales. It may not be on the same scale of the crisis in London, but there are significant numbers of people living in Wales struggling to access and afford their homes.

If you live in Wales, you are sure to know someone affected by it – whether it is one of the 150,000-plus young people aged 20-34 still living at home with their parents, one of the 1,935 families housed by their council in temporary accommodation between July and September last year or one of the 240 rough sleepers in Wales counted in November 2015. 

Factor in a rapidly ageing population and the oldest stock in the UK, and the pressure is on. The simple fact is that there are not enough affordable homes, and we must do more to meet the housing needs in Wales.

“We need to unite and create a stronger voice for housing and ensure that it remains a top priority in the next Assembly term, regardless of which party holds the reins.”

Despite these startling statistics, we are lucky to live in Wales where we have a National Assembly that has shown a real commitment to increase the number of affordable homes, support the social housing sector and understand the regeneration opportunities afforded by housing-led investment.

We have had a plethora of new housing regulations, laws and opportunities in this fourth term of Welsh Government – designed to support these aims and all with cross-party support; a statutory homelessness prevention duty has been introduced, the Help to Buy Wales shared equity loan scheme is in place, provisions for whole-scale tenancy reform is now law, a national and mandatory private landlord licensing scheme is being rolled out and a successful Houses into Homes scheme has brought more than 7,500 empty homes back into use.

However, we still have a lot of catching up to do to meet current and future housing need, a backlog to fill and an estimated 12,000 new homes a year. The housing crisis continues and is not one that any player in the industry can solve alone.

Stronger Wales

We need to unite and create a stronger voice for housing and ensure that it remains a top priority in the next Assembly term, regardless of which party holds the reins. Collaboration is not only talked about in Wales, it is implemented, and so seven housing organisations in Wales formed a coalition campaign in 2015 which we called ‘Homes For Wales’.

The campaign has brought us together from across the sectors to campaign for the right to a decent affordable home for all. We are calling on the next Assembly government to end the housing crisis and build a stronger Wales.

We are holding a housing rally today (4 March), where over 1,000 representatives from across Wales will come together at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. We will march to the centre of Cardiff for our open-air rally to throw the spotlight on housing for prospective Assembly members, commuters and shoppers because we want to talk about the housing crisis with the people it affects – the electorate.

Our campaign must reach those who are affected by the crisis because we want them to ask their prospective Assembly members what they are doing to ensure more homes are provided for their families and community.

Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru and our partners know that housing is critical to the future success of Wales. For the economy, workers need to be housed close to their work; for education children need safe and secure homes; for the health prevention agenda housing must be fit for purpose. Housing is a vital form of Welsh infrastructure and it needs to be a top political priority, now and in the future.

Kevin Howell, director, Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru