A report from the affordable housing taskforce has investigated the needs for improvement in Wales and how changes can be implemented
Around 3,000 children and 11,000 adults are currently living in temporary accommodation, including Bed & Breakfast, in Wales, with 140,000 people on a waiting list for an affordable home.
Many challenges to affordable housing have arisen in recent years
The report indicates that inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cost of living have all had a severe impact on housebuilding, and caused more difficulties at one of the worst times possible.
Most affordable homes are provided by major housebuilders on commercial developments, but this is not a sustainable solution alone. The market has shown that the UK’s affordable housing market, including shared ownership schemes and social rent, is falling due to high interest and construction costs.
The report further states that there are no ‘quick fixes’, but found evidence for a wide range of practical changes that would speed the delivery of affordable housing.
The list of recommendations is long and comprehensive. It includes:
Local leadership
- Local Authorities need to prioritise applications for new affordable homes in recognition of the housing emergency.
- Each project should be allocated a senior officer to provide Council-wide project management and to coordinate decisions across the local authority. They should be publicly listed as a single point of contact and be responsible for the progress of a scheme – and empowered to make decisions when there are trade-offs to be made within a project.
System leadership
- Local Authorities and Housing Associations need to ensure they have strong relationships and work together as partners to deliver against local need – this should include regular communication, closer collaboration and joint planning.
Streamlining the process
- Standardised agreements for infrastructure delivery to current technical standards, which are agreed to by applicants. This should include S278/S38 Highway agreements (in accordance with Manual for Streets); SAB (SuDS Approval Body) adoption agreements and how SAB conditions are documented to ensure consistency and save time.
- Developers have told the taskforce that there needs to be transparency on how commuted sums are calculated. Local Planning Authorities should publish Supplementary Planning Guidance setting out their requirements and rationale.
The report and all recommendations can be read in full here.
“Longer-term systems change is necessary if we are to stand any chance”
Matt Dicks, national director of CIH Cymru said: “It is positive to see that many of the recommendations reflect what our members have been telling us, and that they recognise the structural nature of our housing emergency, that longer-term systems change is necessary if we are to stand any chance of reducing the numbers of people living in temporary accommodation and the numbers currently on social housing waiting lists.
“We would however have liked to have seen the call for a national housing strategy which is necessary to pull the key strategic levers, many of which are outlined in the taskforce’s recommendations, together in a cohesive whole-system approach to our housing emergency.
“CIH Cymru, along with our campaign partners Tai Pawb and Shelter Cymru, believe that legislating to incorporate the Right to Adequate Housing into Welsh law will drive the whole system change that we need, embedding the provision of a safe, affordable and sustainable home for everyone in Wales as a foundation mission of government which transcends political cycles.”
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