Welsh quality standards hinder new social housing supply, Senedd hears

“I don’t disagree with the ambitions of the policies. But what I’d like to see is a timeline in terms of delivery so that we can focus, at this point, on the emergency and the housing crisis, and perhaps look at those when we’re in a better, more positive, stronger position with more social housing that’s been delivered,” she added.

Ms Williams also urged the government to consider the tenant voice when implementing standards in the social housing sector and questioned whether its priority is homes being rated Energy Performance Certificate Band A or to have existing maintenance and repair works completed.

“There are some things in the [WHQS] which… do feel a bit above and beyond, and I think we need to be a bit more pragmatic about what’s actually a priority to make homes better for our residents,” she told the committee.

Clarissa Corbisiero, deputy chief executive and director of policy and external affairs at Community Housing Cymru (CHC), echoed these concerns, telling the committee that the social housing sector is experiencing “huge system change on so many fronts at the moment”.

“Where it all comes to roost is actually in the business planning and the capacity of delivery [for] organisations like housing associations and local authorities,” she said.

Ms Corbisiero urged the government to plan for implementation of regulatory changes and to do so on a phased basis.

“I think our message would be, ‘If you can plan it and phase it, please do that.’ And if you can build in certainty, that really helps,” she added.

CHC’s written evidence to the committee called on the Welsh government to “revise standards for existing homes” and to “take a pragmatic approach to WHQS and [Welsh Development Quality Requirements], focusing on what is deliverable and matters most to tenants”.

It said: “The comprehensive cost of WHQS is prohibitively expensive. We do not have a realistic route to delivery, and not all requirements mandated by the standard are those of paramount importance to tenants.” 

The Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru also provided written evidence to the Local Government and Housing Committee. The body said there are “a couple of policy goals that are likely to or are currently impacting the work to increase the supply of social homes in Wales”.

It highlighted that respondents to last year’s snapshot survey of the sector raised concerns that the level of funding allocated to the WHQS and developing new homes is “insufficient”.

Charity Shelter Cymru told the committee that the social housing sector has legal obligations around WHQS and potentially future obligations around net zero, but that there are no obligations to address the housing emergency through delivery.

Lauren Caley, policy and public affairs manager at Shelter Cymru, said: “That is something that predominantly is aligned with their values and something that they take on as a moral obligation… I know certainly from a personal perspective, I would prioritise my legal obligations over my moral obligations in times of difficulty.”

“If we want a different approach, perhaps we need to look again at the situation that we are putting them in,” she added.

Neil Barber, executive director of property and investment at the newly formed Codi Group, said that “to get to the previous iteration of the WHQS within a customer’s home would have been hugely disruptive”.

But he told the committee that he sees an “increasing sense of pragmatism” from the government in this area, pointing to funding such as the Optimised Retrofit Programme, which was topped up by £14.1m last year.

The WHQS requires social landlords to aim to achieve EPC A for each property, but this will be accomplished through a series of smaller goals, starting with EPC C by 2029. 

From April this year, a new requirement will come into force under the WHQS for social landlords to investigate serious hazards within 24 hours.