‘Families forced to consider leaving Wales due to social housing crisis,’ say Tories
Families are being forced to consider leaving Wales due to a shortage of social housing, Welsh Conservatives have said.
Almost 90,000 households (200,000 people) are now on the social housing list in Wales, an increase of 40% from 2018 when it was at 65,000.
Citing a recent BBC report that an Anglesey family-of-eight fear having to split up or move to Scotland due to a ‘housing crisis,’ Welsh Conservative Shadow Minister for Housing, Janet Finch-Saunders MS said: “It is a national disgrace that families are being forced to consider leaving Wales as a result of 25 years of Labour failings.
“With almost 90,000 households on a social housing waiting list, how can Labour ministers genuinely say that we are a nation of sanctuary?
“The simple truth is that hard working families are paying the price for Labour’s housing crisis while Labour ministers look to waste £100 million on more politicians in Cardiff Bay.
“Labour ministers must stop avoiding responsibility for over two decades of inaction, put an end to their vanity projects and focus on building the houses that the people of Wales desperately need.”
Welsh Liberal Democrats have also raised their concerns about a social housing crisis.
The party states that Welsh Government figures show that housebuilding appears to have fallen this year and that Labour is allowing progress to stall.
Welsh Government figures released at the start of this month show 1,232 new homes were built between April and June, 27% less than the same quarter of 2019.
If this rate was replicated throughout the whole of 2022, 4,928 homes would be completed far below the median estimated annual need of 7,400, Welsh Liberal Democrats have said.
‘Seriously concerning’
“These figures are seriously concerning,” Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said.
“The Welsh Liberal Democrats are proud that during the last Government we were able to use our influence to build 20,000 affordable homes by 2021. However, it now feels like Labour is letting these targets slip through their fingers.
“People across Wales deserve a place to call home and that shouldn’t be an unachievable aspiration.
“What we are seeing now is generations of people, particularly younger people being unable to move out of their parent’s or relatives’ house and being unable to have an independent life of their own. This is not to mention the number of people being forced to move away from their home town.
“Policies such as increasing taxation on second homes is welcome, but are not a silver bullet. To beat the housing crisis we need to see a higher number of homes being built and we need to see the Welsh Government work closely with local authorities to create the policies that enable housing (both social and private) to be built.”
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Maybe seven homes Saunders can give away her property then if she feels that passionate about it. Plus, I don’t believe her, she is totally full of it.
Not even give it away, but sell it to social landlords. Totally incompetent, visionless and reactionary.
Social landlords won’t buy unless it’s built to current “new build” standards. Older properties in good nick won’t be looked at despite budgets existing for further insulation, rewiring, any work to make “fit for habitation”.
Seriously this lady really does my head in. Such an ill-informed person should not be allowed near any governing institution. 1) Building more houses does not lower prices as they work as assets, not goods. 2) Building more houses just speeds up the colonization of Wales – especially as the natural population is falling. 3) Her party is completely against a property act, along the lines of what Cymdeithas yr Iaith have been campaigning for since the 80s. Such a property act would solve many of the housing problems facing Wales – including lack of social housing. If she’s that… Read more »
Hardly point scoring these are the facts –Almost 90,000 households (200,000 people) are now on the social housing list in Wales, an increase of 40% from 2018 when it was at 65,000.
you know the figure over the border is 3.8 million people, so anyone thinking the grass is greener in tory fantasy land, is talking out of the a*se
That is true enough, one of the main reasons for the historical relocation of families from English metropolitan regions into parts of Wales which in turn has bumped local people down the waiting list. Fantasists in UK Gov and Bay regime think they can fetch in economic migrants, refugees, asylum seekers et al without a commensurate build of housing stock. Where’s the basic level of competence to figure that out?
How do I get on TV? Talk rollux… Plenty of print outs available from London HQ.
There are 1.4 million fewer social homes in the UK than there were in 1980.
Where does this idiot think these Welsh people are going?
As a welsh-american, I am very ashamed of this failing. How can you support independence (and I do), when you treat the needs of your citizens so BADLY. Shame, shame, shame. I now am afraid that Cymru is a failing state. PETITION THE “PRINCE OF WALES” TO FINANCE THOUSANDS OF NEW HOMES THIS YEAR.
Tory policies sold off social housing until Wales put a stop to it and if she is truly concerned perhaps she should start at the deep end with the 30,000 families in England who have been on waiting lists for over ten years.
Thousands of families there have been waiting 20 years and will never be housed. There are 1.6M English households altogether on waiting lists and some English councils have no lists as they have no social housing.
At least Wales is actually building council housing despite the best efforts of Westminster Tories.
“PETITION THE “PRINCE OF WALES” TO FINANCE THOUSANDS OF NEW HOMES THIS YEAR.”
Verily we must present said petition to his divine majesty at ye next jousting tournament.
What does JFS mean when she says ‘NATIONAL’ disgrace? She belongs to a party which doesn’t believe Wales is a nation so she must mean national in a UK context and so she’s right. Thatcher decimated social housing and it has never recovered but she prefers to pin blame anywhere but where it really lies.
P.S. This may be a point about social housing but people who are being PRICED out seem to be fair game.
Oh here goes Janet French and Saunders again, putting her slum landlord business over the needs of the people once again
Oh how I wish we had French and Saunders in there instead of their near namesake.
Just for the benefit of any tory fanboys looking in, the figures from 2020 for Tory Ingurland is 3.8 million people on the waiting list, where does idiot finch saunders think these people from Wales are going? And who’s great idea was it to sell off all the council houses in the first place, tories=scum & lib dems are no better
As per usual whenever someone points out Welsh Govt failings we get the usual ” Look at England to see they are no better” Well that may be the case but we do not live in England and housing is a devolved issue. The facts show that the Welsh Govt are FAILING when it comes to social housing and they need to address it instead of crying its not our fault its the big bad Tories in England. Goodness knows what they would do if we got full independence – probably blame England as usual
Pot calling the kettle….
Irony?