Committee calls for 60,000 more social homes

Chris Haines ICNN Senedd reporter

A committee called for Wales to build an estimated extra 60,000 social homes to begin to catch up to comparable countries across Europe.

Labour’s John Griffiths, who chairs the Senedd’s housing committee, said increasing the supply of social housing at pace is key to addressing a housing crisis in Wales.

Calling for a longer-term strategy, he warned the Welsh Government was less than halfway towards its target of delivering 20,000 low-carbon social homes for rent by 2026.

The Newport East Senedd member contrasted the levels of social housing stock across Europe, with Denmark at 20%; Scotland, 23%; Austria, 24%; and the Netherlands, 29%.

He said: “Here in Wales on the other hand, social housing currently makes up only about 16% of stock. If we met the 20% figure, we would have in the region of 60,000 more homes, which would make a significant difference to people’s lives.”

‘Measly’

The Welsh Government accepted the committee’s calls to make 20% the aim “in principle”, rejecting three of the committee’s 17 recommendations and accepting seven in full.

Laura Anne Jones, the Conservatives’ shadow housing secretary, accused the Welsh Government of having “all but given up” on building houses.

She pointed to an Audit Wales report which found the Welsh Government would need up to an extra £740m to hit its target of 20,000 homes by the end of the Senedd term.

She said the draft budget for 2025/26 allocated a “measly” £81m extra.

Ms Jones raised alarm about Wales losing 300 construction workers a year, with 12,000 builders needed by 2028 to meet demand in the industry.

‘Magic bullet’

Siân Gwenllian, Plaid Cymru’s housing spokesperson, criticised ministers for rejecting calls to establish Unnos as an arm’s-length body to speed up the building of social homes.

Ms Gwenllian also raised concerns about a lack of flexibility in quality standards.

She explained: “Complying with and reaching EPC A adds £15,000 per home, and housing associations have argued that relaxing the requirement to EPC B could allow for the provision of 1,000 additional homes with the same level of funding.”

Lee Waters, who is leading the Welsh Government’s affordable homes taskforce which will report in spring, said: “It’s quite clear from the work already that there is no magic bullet, but there are, I think, a series of interventions that can make a difference.”

He suggested applications for social housing should be prioritised by planning authorities.

The Labour former minister told the Senedd a lack of planning officers is clearly a problem, with Welsh councils having lost 40% of staff since the start of austerity in 2010.

‘Drop in the ocean’

Plaid Cymru’s Mabon ap Gwynfor called for at least 30% of housing stock to be under public ownership, with the report suggesting up to a third may be required longer term.

“This was the figure in Wales back in the 1970s before Thatcher decided to sell the public housing stock, thus creating the current housing crisis,” he said.

Labour’s Jenny Rathbone described the 20,000 homes target as a drop in the ocean compared to the overwhelming need.

She told the chamber or Siambr: “The situation for people living in private rented sector accommodation is absolutely dire and one constituent who is a single adult in her 50s has just had a 28% rent rise imposed on her.

“There is no way that she can afford to buy a property and I doubt if she could meet the requirements of being on the housing register.”

‘Undeniable’

Responding to the debate on February 5, housing secretary Jayne Bryant said: “The evidence that we need more affordable homes is undeniable.

“There are still too many people living in temporary accommodation and one person sleeping rough, or one family without a place to call home, is one too many.”

The Labour minister said social housing has received more than £1.4bn from the Welsh Government since 2021, with an extra 9,000 homes for rent in the sector.

Ms Bryant, who was appointed in July, told the Senedd: “Through the recent draft budget, we secured an additional £81m for social housing.

“This brings the total budget for social housing to the highest ever single year total: £411m for 2025/26. This is a positive budget with a clear focus on housing supply.”