Cardiff council starts housing some homeless people outside the city
Martin Shipton
Some homeless people in Cardiff are from this month being housed in neighbouring local authority areas, the Welsh capital’s council has confirmed.
But the decision has not been universally welcomed, with senior councillors in some nearby areas believing the decision will make it more difficult for their authorities to house their homeless.
Nation.Cymru was contacted about the new policy by a senior Labour councillor from another south Wales council who said: “It’s worrying that other council areas are having housing options removed from them. It seems as if Cardiff is throwing its weight around.”
Housing emergency
But a worker with the homeless in Cardiff said: “The fact is that quite a few homeless people in Cardiff are not from the city, but have moved there from other council areas. But in a sense, by adopting this policy Cardiff is simply returning some people to areas they came from originally.”
A spokesperson for Cardiff council said: “Cardiff continues to face a housing emergency, with unprecedented demand for support. Our temporary accommodation is full, and the lack of affordable housing in the city means households in temporary accommodation can wait for many months for an offer of permanent housing.
“While our housing development programme is delivering new council homes, and we’ve purchased a number of buildings to create more affordable housing rapidly, we’ve also made some policy changes to alleviate pressures and help people move out of temporary accommodation into permanent homes more quickly.
“This includes, where appropriate, offering private rented accommodation which is an important source of affordable housing, in neighbouring local authority areas where there are more options. An assessment will be carried out before any household is offered accommodation outside of Cardiff, to ensure that the offer is suitable for them.
“When we consulted on these changes last summer, more than two-thirds (67.9%) of respondents agreed with the proposal, including 35.3% who strongly agreed.
“The change is coming into effect from February.”
Consultation
Details of the consultation were shared with Cardiff councillors in September 2024. A report produced at the time said: “Working in partnership with the Cardiff Research Centre, an extensive consultation has recently taken place on homelessness services in Cardiff. The consultation was available online and via paper copies in community hubs.
“The survey sought views on a number of homelessness services, in addition to proposed policy changes to alleviate immediate housing pressures and help people move out of temporary accommodation into permanent homes more quickly. These policy changes include making better use of the private rented sector and offering private rented accommodation outside of Cardiff, and offering those in temporary accommodation permanent accommodation wherever suitable social housing becomes available in the city.
“The survey was live between July 17 2024 and September 1 2024 and a total of 2,892 responses were received. Over two-thirds (67.9%) of respondents agreed with the proposal to offer private rented accommodation outside of Cardiff. This included 35.3% who strongly agreed. In contrast, one in five (19.7%) respondents disagreed with the proposal.
“Almost three in four (73.6%) respondents agreed with the proposal to offer those in temporary accommodation permanent accommodation wherever suitable housing becomes available in the city. This included 43.6% of respondents who strongly agreed. In contrast, around one in seven (13.6%) respondents disagreed.
“Given these results, the changes to policy around offering properties out of county where appropriate and also, where appropriate, offering homeless applicants permanent housing wherever suitable housing becomes available in the city, will be taken forward. The policy changes will be implemented once new procedures have been drafted and staff have been fully trained.”
There are approximately 8,000 people on the common waiting list in Cardiff, with more than 400 new applications received each month.
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Cardiff Council already taking lessons out of the Trump playbook ? Removing homeless to some place beyond the city limits instead of repurposing some of the vacant properties that have stood empty for ages. If they took that attitude towards recent arrivals from overseas they’d get branded as racist. Most of the economic development that takes place in South Wales gets grabbed by Cardiff so no wonder that people flock to the city. Those that miss their chance end up homeless, they are the ones that should get helped back onto their feet.
A considerable number are moving to Cardiff because they want a one stop hub for drugs, being able to purchase them easily and get the money to pay for them by begging / stealing / looting.
Accommodation is the last priority on their list but Cardiff Council spend triple on this per capita, compared to the rest of their country. It is currently very ‘druggie friendly’ with one establishment giving out a quarter of a million needle syringes a year and staff caught dealing drugs themselves.
Drugs and county lines is an issue. Stop and search at Cardiff and Newport train stations. Use Ianto the sniffer dog to avoid being accused of racism.
You are a hawk hd that can see a mean move from high above, my thoughts exactly…
Clean and Mean streets for a would-be Yuppy City…
*No Mean City’ about 30’s Glasgow, any writer out there fancy the commission on today’s Cardiff…
Not the Trump playbook, but one somewhat closer to home.
London boroughs have been exporting their homeless to other parts of England for a number of years.
……London boroughs have been exporting their homeless to other parts of England for a number of years…..
I got news for you pal, they been turning up in West Wales for years, mostly the bad’uns that the English provinces couldn’t even stomach. Maybe Trump learned some of his bad habits from the elites in London, Farage comes from round there somewhere, doesn’t he?
How many homeless people in Cardiff are actually from Cardiff? Most tents in parks are occupied by those of a Bristol or even London accent, came to Cardiff because there’s lots of services provided by the third sector subsidised by WG grants. Anyone who doesn’t qualify for the housing list (five-year settled residency) should be given a train ticket. Trains leave Central every hour in an easterly direction. Then concentrate on Welsh homeless who qualify. Inter-authority listing scheme with the valleys as required.
Returning people to their home council area if that’s clearly defined could be a positive step if this means they have more support from friends and family.
We have loads of homeless in my town but their homeless through their own fault they drink all day in the square have the latest phones and smoke . They start fights and swear continuously . We’re fed up just get rid of them