Welsh government announces extra £10m for social housing

The uplift is part of an overall £120m package for local authorities, which includes a further £52.3m for local government pay during 2024-2025 and £10m for reablement services following illness and hospital discharge.

The boost to funding will also include “some additional funding” for domiciliary care after the Welsh government decided to keep the £100 a week maximum charge for home-based care, rather than increase it.

Jayne Bryant, cabinet secretary for housing and local government, said: “Local authorities are our key partners – they deliver the services we rely on every day and we recognise the real challenges and financial pressures they’re facing.

“This additional funding recognises and will help alleviate some of these pressures and support a range of housing, education and social care services.”

“We’re committed to strengthening local governments, helping them plan for the future and deliver for the people of Wales,” Ms Bryant added.

Andrew Morgan, leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, said: “This additional one-off funding is a welcome boost for councils across Wales, and it reflects the critical role local authorities play in delivering the services our communities depend on.

“Our schools, social care teams, and housing services are facing unprecedented pressures, so it’s reassuring to see this support for essential areas.”

Some of the extra money was included in a £157m package of funding announced by first minister Eluned Morgan last week, which is intended to help deliver her key priorities.

The draft Budget setting out the Welsh government’s spending plans for 2025-26 will be published later today (10 December).

In their consultation submissions on what they expect in next year’s Budget, sector organisations have emphasised that inflation and high interest rates must be taken into account, as higher prices have now been baked into supply chains.

The Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru said it expects that “as a minimum, existing funding levels are retained but are ideally increased to reflect the inflationary cost rises seen across the housing sector”.

Community Housing Cymru (CHC) raised concerns that “the increase in National Insurance [NI] contributions has the potential to push support providers over the edge”, amid existing pressure to provide the real living wage to employees.

Extra NI costs are estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds per organisation, CHC said.

UK chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in October’s Budget that NI contributions will rise from 13.8% to 15% from 6 April 2025. Since then, the care sector has called on the government to exempt not-for-profit sector services from the increase.

Last year, the Welsh government provided a £13m uplift to the Housing Support Grant, which is to help deliver homelessness and housing support services.