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Welsh government white paper ‘falls short of fundamental change’, sector bodies say
Organisations behind a campaign to make housing a legal right in Wales have described a recently published white paper on adequate housing as lacking ambition.
Tai Pawb, the Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru and Shelter Cymru have spearheaded a Back the Bill campaign, which would enshrine the right to housing in Welsh legislation.
Last week, the Welsh government published a white paper on how to improve housing and private renting in Wales.
“The publication of the white paper on securing a path towards adequate housing contains some positive steps forward,” the three organisations said in a joint statement.
“However, it falls short of fundamental change and ambition which can only be delivered through hard-wiring a legal commitment to providing housing as a human right.”
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The Welsh government put forward proposals to develop legislation that would establish a framework for delivering adequate housing in the next Senedd term.
It would put a duty on ministers to produce a strategy for addressing housing adequacy, as well as raise discussions around placing a duty on “defined public sector bodies to have regard to the housing strategy in discharging their housing functions”.
“The principle that everyone has a right to an adequate home is one we wholeheartedly support,” said Jayne Bryant, the Welsh cabinet secretary for housing and local government.
According to research carried out in 2020, more than three-quarters of people in Wales supported a legal right to housing.
The campaigning bodies said the current housing crisis “necessitates a radical solution”.
“We believe that a rights-based approach, underpinned by legislation, would act as a catalyst for positive change, bringing about additional resource and greater accountability,” they said.
Ms Bryant said: “The principle that everyone has a right to an adequate home is one we wholeheartedly support.
“I am proud of the progress we have already made towards delivering housing adequacy for the people of Wales. This includes improving housing quality and standards; strengthening tenants’ rights; delivering more social homes; introducing broad measures to manage future numbers of second homes; and transforming our approach to homelessness.
“We are also building on these strong foundations with continued significant investment to deliver more social homes, and are developing ambitious and far-reaching legislation to support our ambition to end homelessness.”
Other proposals in the white paper include ways to improve the quality of market rent data, the creation of a spatial rent map to show local rents and suggestions for how to demonstrate a property is habitable.
The white paper was originally part of Welsh Labour’s co-operation agreement with Plaid Cymru, which ran from December 2021 to May 2024.
Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru, ended the deal early over concerns around the leadership of Vaughan Gething, the first minister at the time.
In June 2023, the Welsh government launched a green paper consultation on the same topics, and said a white paper was planned in due course.
It took views on the establishment of a system of rent controls in the private rental market with the aim of making it affordable for people on local incomes.
The current consultation will run to 31 January 2025.
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