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Welsh housing associations partner with faith groups to build homes on church land
A number of Welsh housing associations have been selected as development partners as part of a programme that aims to boost the number of affordable homes being built on church land.
Five housing associations and one consortium have been chosen to participate in the next phase of the Faith in Affordable Housing Project that is run by Housing Justice Cymru, Wales’ only non-denominational Christian housing charity.
The project attempts to transform surplus church land and buildings into affordable rented housing. To date, it has delivered almost 100 affordable homes. It was launched in 2016.
Similar attempts are currently being made to boost the number of affordable homes being built on church land in England, with the Church of England recently revealing that it was considering setting up its own housing association.
Last year, Housing Justice Cymru reviewed its Faith in Affordable Housing Project and concluded that the scheme could “significantly increase” the delivery of affordable homes if it took a more focused approach by working with a smaller number of housing associations.
A total of eight housing associations applied to be part of the programme and the final group was selected by an expert panel that brought together experts from Welsh government, the housing and heritage sectors, and church groups.
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The housing associations that have been selected for the next phase of the programme are: Adra, Grwp Cynefin, Monmouth, Pobl and First Choice, as well as a consortium led by Cardiff Community Housing Association, including including Newydd, Valleys to Coast, Melin and First Choice Housing Association.
Bishop John Davies, chair of Housing Justice Cymru and former Archbishop of Wales, said: “This is a great opportunity for churches and housing associations to work together to address one of the major social problems of our age. Everyone deserves a decent home that meets their needs, and we hope this next phase of the programme will produce more homes for the people most in the need.”
Bonnie Navarra, director of Housing Justice Cymru, said: “Following consultation with the social housing sector, the key message was that any process to identify future development partners should be transparent and fair. We want to work with the housing organisations who have the financial capacity and skills to build new housing but, importantly, who also share our values around helping those in need and addressing the housing crisis head-on.”
Gareth Davies, director of development at Cardiff Community Housing Association and spokesperson for the consortium, said: “We are delighted to be working with Housing Justice Cymru and believe that this new partnership will enable us to make a significant contribution of good quality, affordable homes in the South East region.”
Gwyndaf Williams, development manager at Grwp Cynefin, said: “There is a housing crisis across North Wales and we are pleased to be working with another North Wales housing association, Adra, and Housing Justice Cymru to meet the very big challenges in this area, and especially those areas of housing stress where second homes have exacerbated the housing problem.”
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