(Title Image: Hygrove Homes)
Shadow Communities Minister, Mark Isherwood MS (Con, North Wales), called for a “large increase” in the housing support grant in the next Welsh budget. This is to ensure community organisations and the third sector can continue to take the pressure off statutory services concerning homelessness.
If Wales was truly on a path to eliminate homelessness, then such organisations can’t continue to face real-terms cuts to their funding.
Local Government & Housing Minister, Julie James (Lab, Swansea West), was grateful for the “extraordinary work” community and third sector groups have done during the pandemic. Tackling homelessness isn’t all about housing itself, but also the support services needed for someone to maintain a tenancy.
That said, the Minister wasn’t going to pre-empt the next Welsh budget or local government settlement – drafts of which are due to be published next week.
Delyth Jewell MS (Plaid, South Wales East) cited statistics that showed the number of privately-rented homes in Wales doubling over the last twenty years to around 200,000 units. Meanwhile, the number of social houses and owner-occupied housing has declined.
Given the increase in privately-rented housing – and the fact there’s been no mass exodus from the private rental sector since landlord registration was introduced in Wales – could regulation of the private rental sector go further?
On a separate matter, the pandemic has exposed inequalities regarding access to open space. Would the Minister consider extending open space requirements and/or retrospectively increasing/protecting open spaces within the planning system?
The Minister accepts private renting has its place, though the real shortfall is in socially-rented housing. There were several schemes available to take privately-rented homes into the socially-rented market but there was an urgent need to ramp up the construction of new social housing generally.
The Renting Homes Act changed the balance of power between landlords and tenants in the private rental sector and good landlords know that the regime doesn’t do anything they would have a problem with. It hasn’t yet been implemented at the speed the government would like due to the pandemic, but she hoped all parties will consider that ahead of next year’s election.
On open spaces, local authorities have been encouraged to keep parks and playgrounds open where safe to do so. There was another missed opportunity to put new building regulations in place on access to good quality environments – again something parties can consider for their 2021 manifestos.
