You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
County council in Wales approves £282m housing plan
A council in south-west Wales has approved a three-year, £282m housing investment plan as it looks to reduce its repairs backlog and build more homes.
Carmarthenshire County Council voted to allow a capital investment of £114m and revenue expenditure of £168m between 2025 and 2028.
It explained that the funds will help it improve its repairs service, as well as contribute to its goal of delivering 2,000 new council homes in the next five years.
The funding will come partly from rents, and the plan is based on a projected rent increase to 2.7% for 2025-26.
READ MORE
Carmarthenshire said it would also apply for a £6.2m grant from the Welsh government’s Major Repair Allowance fund.
“This will allow us to improve and maintain our existing stock, as well as delivering more affordable homes to help meet the unprecedented demand for social housing in the county,” the council’s report said.
Carmarthenshire said it aims to reduce its backlog of non-urgent repairs, put in place a new scheduling system and improve the speed of repairs.
It will also introduce a new handy-person service for tenants who need help to maintain their homes.
According to a survey from November and December 2023, 29% of tenants are not satisfied with the council’s overall repairs and maintenance service.
Development will also be a focus, with the council looking to develop large sites of more than 100 homes.
Some of these will be exclusively for social housing, and single-person accommodation will be developed on all new build sites.
The council said it would move away from “expensive and inappropriate out-of-county placements for certain client groups” and that it would continue to invest in specialist supported accommodation.
It also plans to increase the provision of specialist temporary supported accommodation “to reduce our reliance on costly private sector provision”, which includes buying B&B accommodation.
Housing and homelessness charity Shelter Cymru recently warned that the UK government’s decision to freeze housing benefit levels would lead to an increased risk of homelessness for Welsh families.
Linda Davies Evans, deputy leader and cabinet member for homes at Carmarthenshire Council, said: “The Housing Investment Programme 2025-2028 sets out our commitment to ensure that council housing services in Carmarthenshire meet the needs of our community and provides safe, affordable and high-quality homes for local people.
“This plan will serve as a framework for delivering our vision of a thriving housing service which looks to address the challenges ahead and ensures that our housing services remain responsive, resilient and sustainable into the future.”
The council currently owns around 9,300 homes, just over half of which are rated Energy Performance Certificate Band C or above. The new investment plan aims to deliver more than £14m in works to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.
Sign up for our Wales newsletter
New to Inside Housing? Click here to register and receive our Wales round-up straight to your inbox
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
