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Abolish priority need to reduce rough sleeping, say Welsh AMs
Ministers in Wales should abolish ‘priority need’ from housing allocations to reduce rough sleeping, a cross-party group of assembly members (AMs) has said.
The Equality, Local Government and Communities (ELGC) Committee said the criteria should be removed “as a matter of urgency” to help vulnerable people off the streets in a report published on Friday.
Priority need gives housing applicants an enhanced right to accommodation if they fall into certain groups, such as pregnant women, people with young children, people with a disability and younger people.
But people who fall outside these categories can find it difficult to secure a home, even if they are bedding down outside and struggling with ill health or addiction, as councils’ resources are focused on priority need applicants.
The committee called for the Welsh Government to phase out priority need, extending the concept to all rough sleepers in the interim.
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“The number of people sleeping rough in Wales is growing, and as a society this is something we simply shouldn’t accept,” said John Griffiths, Labour AM for Newport East and chair of the ELGC Committee.
“What our inquiry has found is that the criteria used to identify those who are in ‘priority need’ of accommodation is such that even the most vulnerable people within our communities are falling through the cracks.
“We want the Welsh Government to introduce a phased approach to abolishing priority need, which would start by ensuring that everyone sleeping rough is considered in priority need, and is entitled to support and housing.”
If ministers are opposed to scrapping priority need, the report suggests amending the definition of ‘vulnerable’ in the Housing Act (Wales) 2014 to reflect current case law.
The Welsh Government will now consider the report’s 29 recommendations.
Rough sleeping in Wales rose 10% last year, according to official counts.
