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Welsh affordable housing development falls 9%
Affordable housebuilding tumbled 9% in Wales last year, official statistics show.
In 2017/18, 2,316 affordable homes were delivered across the country, down from 2,547 in 2016/17.
The Welsh Government has a target to build 20,000 affordable homes in the 2016-2021 Welsh Assembly term.
These latest figures mean the annual output will need to double to more than 5,000 homes a year if that goal is to be met.
However, the Welsh Government insisted it is on course to reach the target, with councils and housing associations expected to “significantly increase” affordable housing delivery in the next two years.
It said the reduction reflected “fluctuations in the development cycle”.
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The number of affordable homes built using capital grant funding plummeted 31% to 1,243 – while the number built without increased 46% to 1,073.
Units delivered on public land fell 23% to 531.
Housing associations accounted for 84% of the affordable homes built in Wales in 2017/18 – down from 93% in 2016/17.
Four in five (79.4%) of affordable homes built by housing associations last year were for social rent, the highest proportion since at least 2011/12.
The social housing sector, including local authorities, is signed up to deliver at least 13,500 of the Welsh Government’s 20,000 target homes.
Councils built 266 affordable homes in 2017/18, while the remaining 104 were built by private developers, including through Section 106 agreements.
Another 10 homes – not counted as part of the affordable housing statistics – were built through the Welsh Government’s Rent to Own scheme, launched in February.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “These figures reflect fluctuations in the development cycle.
“We work closely with local authorities and registered social landlords who are confident that together we will significantly increase affordable housing delivery in the next two years.
“We are on course to reach our ambitious target of building 20,000 new affordable homes over the course of this Assembly, which reflects our record £1.7bn investment in housing during this term of government.”
An estimated 3,095 affordable homes are planned for completion in 2018/19.
The figures do not take account of demolitions, conversions or homes sold through the Right to Buy.
Clarissa Corbisiero-Peters, director of policy and deputy chief executive of Community Housing Cymru, said: “We are confident that housing associations will continue to deliver the homes Wales needs, and contribute substantially to [the] Welsh Government’s 20,000 homes target by 2021, as agreed in our affordable housing pact.
“Early figures for 2018/19 are encouraging and show that we can expect a significant increase in the number of additional homes provided by housing associations in Wales when this data is published next year, and we will continue to work closely with colleagues in Welsh Government and local government to achieve our goals.
Ministers in Wales have commissioned an independent review of affordable housing supply, due to publish its findings in April next year.
