New first minister in Wales urged to be ‘ambitious’ on housing

Among this pledges, Mr Gething said he wants to make building more social homes a “priority” and speed up the process, helped by “latest construction methods” and modular housing.

The Welsh government has previously committed to building 20,000 low-carbon homes for social rent between 2021 and 2026. 

Mr Gething, who was most recently Wales’ economy minister, has also promised that an affordable homes taskforce will be launched to tackle the planning backlog. 

His manifesto also said his administration wanted to work with the housing sector and private finance for an "ambitious programme" of retrofitting homes, driven by more apprenticeships.

A “radical overhaul” of the leasehold system has also been promised.

On a wider scale Mr Gething, who is the first Black leader of a European nation, said on Wednesday that he wants to lead a Wales “full of hope, ambition and unity”.

CIH Cymru said a more equitable Wales can be achieved through its five-point plan for housing.

As well as its call to introduce law for the right to an adequate home, it includes an “ongoing commitment to long-term capital investment to build more affordable homes and retrofit existing ones”, a clear strategy for the private rented sector and tackling “social housing stigma”. 

Justin Young, chief executive of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, also welcomed Mr Gething in taking the role.

He added: “It is essential that the incoming first minister commits to improving the supply of high-quality, affordable homes across tenures, to ease pressures on social housing services, support renters with ever-increasing rents and to help those first-time-buyers get on the housing ladder.”

Mr Gething’s appointment comes the same week after a group of homelessness and housing organisations in Wales joined a growing chorus of concerns over the UK government’s plans to criminalise rough sleeping under new legislation.