Build bold to transform Wales

Simon Hobson, Co-founder of New Wales

Wales is facing a housing crisis that touches almost every community. Rents and mortgages keep rising faster than wages. Too many people are stuck in unsuitable, insecure, or poor-quality homes. And while politicians talk about ‘managing the crisis’, the truth is that management is no longer enough. Wales needs a step change: a national mission to build homes and communities that allow people to live with dignity, security, and hope.

This is not about grand constitutional arguments or waiting for someone else to act. Wales already has meaningful powers over housing. The question now is whether the next Welsh Government will use them with confidence, imagination, and courage.

It is important that we acknowledge what is already in Wales’ hands. Housing is one of the most developed areas of devolution. The Senedd has the power to pass its own laws, set its own taxes on land and property, regulate social housing providers, and establish its own housing policies. These are real tools. But having tools is not the same as using them boldly. 

The next Senedd term must mark a shift from managing scarcity to reshaping the housing system so that it serves people, not financial speculation.

‘A home should be the starting point of a good life, not the first barrier to it’.

While Wales does have housing powers, the wider UK market still creates major pressures. The financial system treats houses as wealth-generating assets rather than places to live. The Competition and Markets Authority’s recent investigation into major housebuilders, including Barratt, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Bellway, Bloor, Vistry and Berkeley, exposed how practices within the sector protected prices and limited competition. High prices benefit banks, developers, and investors, not communities. 

Meanwhile:

• House prices in Wales have risen by over 70% in a decade
• Wages have lagged far behind
• Around 90,000 households are on social housing waiting lists
• In some areas, 1 in 5 homes sits empty for much of the year as second homes or holiday lets.

We can’t solve this by softness. Tinkering won’t transform a system that isn’t designed for fairness.

A new Welsh housing ambition

If we want decent, affordable homes, we must be willing to try new approaches, not just hope the market behaves itself. Other small European nations are showing what’s possible when governments choose creativity and community over caution.

The Netherlands offers a powerful example Wales can learn from. They have transformed housing by supporting innovation, design quality, and collaboration: all values that align with Welsh priorities.

Here are four Dutch approaches Wales could embrace:

1. Innovation through design challenges

The Netherlands runs national competitions like ‘So you think you can BUILD’, where teams of architects, engineers, builders and community groups compete to design affordable, sustainable homes that are then built in real places.

Wales could launch a ‘National housing innovation challenge’ to unlock new ideas and give fresh talent a chance to lead real projects, particularly in our rural and post-industrial communities.

2. Community and co-operative housing

Across the Netherlands, residents are involved directly in shaping their homes through co-commissioning and co-operative models. These create stronger communities, fairer costs, and homes that truly fit people’s needs.

Wales has started on this journey, but it remains small-scale. The next government should back community-led housing as a mainstream option.

3. Building sustainably and smartly

Dutch housing policy encourages modular, circular, and low-carbon construction. Wales is well-placed to lead in this space with our timber, our manufacturing capacity, and our commitment to a well-being economy.

Publicly funded housing should favour Welsh timber, modular builds, and circular construction, creating jobs as well as homes.

4. Supporting talent and raising design quality

The Netherlands values design as a public good. Bodies like the Board of Government Advisors (CRa) improve quality across public projects, while the Creative Industries Fund helps new architects with grants, including ‘Project Canvas’ starter grants.

Wales should establish a ‘National architecture and creu lleoedd Cymru programme’ to support local talent and raise standards.

A hopeful, practical path forward

The 20226 Senedd election is a moment for Wales to choose transformation, not timidity. We can build neighbourhoods rooted in community, where children can grow up with security, older people can stay near their support networks, and young adults can afford to remain in the places they call home.

‘Decent homes are a political choice, not a market accident’.

A call to the next Senedd

The next Welsh Government must act boldly. That means:

• Treating land as a shared resource, not a speculative asset
• Scaling community-led and co-operative housing across Wales
• Backing innovation with Dutch-style design challenges
• Using public investment to build high-quality, low-carbon homes
• Supporting the next generation of Welsh architects and builders

Wales has the powers. Wales has the ideas. Wales has the talent. What we need now is the courage to use them to their fullest.

We can choose a future where housing strengthens community, supports well-being, and gives every person a fair start in life. That future is within reach if our leaders are brave enough to build it.