Changing the conversation about housing in Wales

Tim Grey

How often do you hear people in Wales talk positively about new-build homes?

The discourse around new-build homes is all too often negative, from the planning stage through to the finished product. Whether it is concern about the location of a new development or the quality of the homes themselves, public perceptions remain challenging.

Homebuyers can judge new-build homes as a distinct category before they even consider a specific developer. That perception shapes attitudes not only among consumers and communities, but also among policymakers and local decision-makers, who can too easily see the housebuilding industry as the enemy rather than the partner it should be.

New builds bring big benefits

The reality is that new-build homes bring a wide range of benefits, and not only to the people who purchase and live in them.

Housing developers provide significant funding for local improvements, supporting new schools and educational facilities, improved transport links and highways, open spaces, play areas and leisure facilities.

There is also the economic benefit. Housebuilding creates jobs during construction and generates additional trade for local shops and businesses, alongside many other benefits to the communities where developments are built.

Across Wales, 5,159 new homes were delivered in 2025/26, generating hundreds of millions of pounds of investment in local communities. This included:

£230 million for affordable housing

£32 million for infrastructure, including around £14 million for new and improved schools

£1.1 billion of economic activity, supporting local economies

As one of Wales’ few remaining privately owned housing developers, we at Llanmoor Homes are proud to play our part. This year marks our 60th anniversary, which we celebrated by completing our 5,000th home at the start of the year.

Campaign 

The Home Builders Federation, the body that represents businesses like ours, recently launched a new campaign to improve public perceptions of new-build homes.

We strongly support that campaign. We are calling on policymakers at every level, from local decision-makers through to the Welsh Government, to recognise the value of new-build homes and better understand the important role housebuilders play in Wales’s economy and communities.

Most importantly, we want to see ministers working positively and constructively with the industry to help deliver the new homes Wales so desperately needs.

There are encouraging early signs from the new Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government. During the summer break, ministers announced the extension of Help to Buy Wales until 31 March 2027.

The popular scheme had been due to close to new applications this September, and many Welsh housebuilders, including Llanmoor Homes, had called for it to be extended.

Plaid Cymru has rightly highlighted the need for more social housing, but until this announcement it had been less vocal about the equally important role that open market housing and private sector developers can play in tackling Wales’ housing shortage.

Housing should be one of the defining priorities of this Senedd term. There is a shortage of homes across Wales, and if the new government fails to address it, the long-term consequences for the country’s economy and the wellbeing of its communities will be significant.

First step

Extending Help to Buy Wales is an encouraging first step from the new government and sends the right signal to the housing industry. We hope the scheme will be extended again beyond March 2027, with the price cap also increased to reflect rising build costs and allow even more buyers to benefit.

Housing is fundamental to Wales’ future prosperity. It underpins economic growth, social mobility and the wellbeing of communities across the country.

With a pro-housing Cabinet Secretary and meaningful collaboration between government and industry, there is an opportunity to make real progress.

That means changing the conversation around new-build homes. Rather than seeing developers simply as organisations responsible for building houses, we should recognise the wider contribution they make to local communities and the Welsh economy.

Together, government and the industry can strengthen confidence in new-build homes, build a better understanding of the benefits of housebuilding and, most importantly, deliver the homes Wales needs.

Tim Grey is Sales Director at Llanmoor Homes, a South Wales-based family-run housebuilder.

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