Wales has a ‘housing emergency’, Senedd committee hears

Ella Groves, ICNN Senedd Reporter

The need for affordable homes in Wales is “absolutely colossal” a Senedd committee has heard.

Clarissa Corbisiero, deputy chief executive of Community Housing Cymru, made the comments in the a housing committee meeting on Tuesday October 22.

During the meeting, members heard from representatives of both social and private landlords.

Building on the original inquiry which concluded in 2019, the committee has so far taken evidence from academics, a housing consultant, a representative of the Empty Homes Network and local authority representatives.

Long-term empty properties

Labour MS Mike Hedges quizzed representatives on whether bringing long-term empty properties back into use could reduce some of the pressure on housing.

Stressing that empty homes must “absolutely” be utilised, Ms Corbisiero said: “We are in a housing emergency, and to move to a housing recovery we need to move at pace and scale across building, acquisition and bringing empties back into use.”

Steven Bletsoe, head of regional business at the National Residential Landlords Association, told members that every property brought back into use is one less family in unsuitable temporary accommodation.

The scale of the potential for housing was also raised, with Louise Attwood, executive director of development, assets and sustainability for Trivallis housing association, adding: “There’s a massive opportunity there for them to be brought back into use.

“Those properties are already in existence, the embodied carbon has already been used, they’ve been built, they’re in communities that have primary schools, have transport, have infrastructure around them, so we don’t need to build on green open space as well.”

Housing standards

Ms Corbisiero also discussed housing standards, responding to Plaid Cymru MS Rebeca Phillips, who asked the representatives what their “one call” on the Welsh Government would be this term.

She drew attention to the transitional accommodation capital programme, which she described as “really helpful”, but said the standards that go alongside the scheme have a “chilling effect” on which properties are chosen.

She added: “When you’re looking at complex long-term empties, where perhaps you haven’t got a chance of meeting WHQS (Welsh Housing Quality Standard), even within the ten-year period that you’re given to do so, then the viability then means that you’re looking at, ‘Well, actually, is this worth me investing in?’”.

Reform MS David Hughes questioned the representatives on whether housing regulations are preventing empty homes being brought back into use.

Chief executive of Beacon Cymru, Luke Takeuchi, stressed that Wales is starting from a “severe lack of supply” and called for more “pragmatism”.

He said: “When you’ve got that as your starting point, to have a very aspirational, in my view potentially gold-plated, standard around WHQS, where we’re looking to deliver very aspirational homes. When your starting point is a severe lack of supply, as far as I’m concerned, that is very difficult to deliver.”

He added, however, that delivering “good quality, warm, affordable homes” should not be compromised on.