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Wales’ new housing minister has promised to continue Carl Sargeant’s work to provide homes for people in need.
Rebecca Evans, Assembly member (AM) for the Gower, took over as the Welsh Government housing and regeneration minister earlier this month.
She replaced Mr Sargeant as the housing portfolio holder after he lost his job in the cabinet following unspecified allegations about his personal conduct.
Just four days after the revelations, Mr Sargeant died in an apparent suicide.
Addressing the Welsh housing sector for the first time at Community Housing Cymru’s annual conference in Cardiff yesterday, Ms Evans said: “Carl Sargeant did more than anyone – in partnership with many of you here – to improve the housing sector in Wales.
“My intention is to continue to drive that change. I look forward to working with you all as we do so.”
She said she worked with Mr Sargeant intermittently for more than 10 years in various Welsh Government roles.
Ms Evans has been an AM since 2011, and was previously minister for social services and public health.
She said that like her predecessor, she wants “to see a step change in the way we build homes”.
She said she is “excited” to be taking on the new role, and added: “I want to make clear at the outset that social housing is a fundamental priority for me, and remains a priority for the government as a whole.
“This will not change, and I will work with you to ensure the pace of delivery is sustained, and increased.”
And she added that she wants to see councils in Wales developing more homes, hinting that the Welsh Government is considering “moving available borrowing capacity from those unable to build to those that can”.