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It’s time for an ambitious plan to tackle the housing crisis in Wales
Labour’s policies are not the right path to getting Wales’ housing crisis under control, writes Welsh shadow climate change minister Janet Finch-Saunders
Janet Finch-Saunders is Welsh shadow minister for housing
Over the past few weeks, the cold snap has thankfully eased and the weather is becoming milder. Yet, we must take time to appreciate the fact that some people have no roof over their heads.
The Labour Welsh government’s atrocious record on housing and its inability to meet social housing targets has put more and more people at risk during the bitterly cold winter season and beyond.
There is a housing crisis in Wales, and it is clear that Labour are not doing enough to get it under control.
Wales is currently seeing the highest level of people living in temporary accommodation since the Labour government began its current monitoring programme.
The number of rough sleepers in Wales has also hit a record number. This is morally unacceptable, as is the fact that local authorities are not even required to monitor the deaths of homeless individuals.
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The problems facing the housing sector in Wales can all be traced back to the Labour government failing to match the number of houses needed to meet demand. They are currently building less than half of the required homes to meet their targets.
The Welsh government has a target of building 20,000 new low-carbon social homes for rent between 2021 and 2026. Around 2,600 homes were built in the first year of the period, so the rate of completion will need to rise significantly to achieve the target.
In addition to missing all of its housebuilding targets, Labour’s Renting Homes (Wales) Act is a major contributor to homelessness in Wales – an issue I have raised many times in the Senedd chamber.
“As Labour continuously targets and punishes second home owners by increasing council taxes and introducing their toxic tourism tax, they hurt the already struggling tourist trade here in Wales”
By pushing forward with the Renting Homes (Wales) Act, the impact is being felt the most by those who have no choice but to live in temporary accommodation due to the number of private sector landlords leaving, as a result of the restrictions of the act.
It’s clear that the Labour government need to urgently re-evaluate their homeless plan and change their failing approach of treating landlords as villains.
But Labour are more interested in their vanity projects such as sending more politicians to Cardiff Bay and implementing blanket 20mph speed limits, than rolling their sleeves up and tackling homelessness in Wales.
After decades of failure from Labour, I have invited colleagues to join us in the mission of tackling the housing crisis created by the Labour government.
The Welsh Conservatives have pushed forward a debate next week in the Welsh parliament to ensure we set Wales on the correct path to ending Labour’s housing crisis.
If Labour and Plaid Cymru vote against our debate next week, they will effectively be content to continue with provisional solutions and sinking millions of pounds into hotels and temporary accommodation, rather than giving people the homes everybody wants. Sticking plasters will only exacerbate the issue.
As Labour continuously target and punish second home owners by increasing council taxes and introducing their toxic tourism tax, they hurt the already struggling tourist trade here in Wales. Yet, the focus should be on empty homes, not than second homes. They must release the necessary funding to have these homes repurposed for social housing.
“In addition to missing all of its housebuilding targets, Labour’s Renting Homes (Wales) Act is a major contributor to homelessness in Wales”
It is unacceptable that the Labour government can view and acknowledge the crisis unravelling in front of them and still cut essential funding. This is not an issue that will go away if they just continue to ignore it. It requires cash and commitment, not just warm words.
How many people need to be sleeping rough in Wales before the Labour government and its co-operation partners in Plaid Cymru put their hands up and admit that there is a need for major housing policy reform in Wales?
The Welsh Conservatives recognise there is a need for a reform, and our housing plan is designed to deliver for everyone, whether they are landlords, tenants, homeowners or homeless. We would set up a dedicated taskforce of planners to tackle the backlog of housebuilding.
We would support small businesses to build homes on land owned by the Welsh government and local councils. We could also turn Wales’ 25,000 empty properties back into affordable homes for social renting, Rent to Buy and for key workers. Every empty, decaying property is a failure. Let’s get those properties back into use.
The Labour government’s current plans are clearly not working. There needs to be a complete overhaul of their housing policy in order to ensure people have a warm home during the cold winter and beyond.
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