Welsh Government has launched its long-awaited consultation on the right to adequate housing and fair rents.
A green paper published on Tuesday (March 6) seeks views and evidence on rents, landlord and tenant behaviour, affordability and how to improve the supply and adequacy of housing over time.
This will inform the development of a white paper next year that will include proposals to achieve housing adequacy including fair rents and affordability. This was promised in the Co-operation Agreement between the Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.
In a written statement, climate change minister Julie James says that: ‘The Welsh Government recognises the pressure the rising cost-of-living is placing on already struggling household budgets. This includes rental costs for tenants. We are committed to helping tenants; committed to ensuring that we strive to deliver adequate housing and that access to private renting is fair: one main aspect of this is affordability.’
But she adds that existing international evidence on housing adequacy and fair rents is not directly transferrable to the Welsh housing sector: ‘The Green Paper is a call for evidence so that we can better understand the rental market in Wales, in particular what factors influence landlord behaviour in setting rents and taking on tenants and what do tenants consider is an affordable and adequate property.’
The consultation runs until September 15 and a series of workshops will be held with stakeholders across Wales.
While seeking evidence rather than proposing definite policies, the green paper sees a clear link between housing adequacy and fair rents.
It quotes the seven criteria that the United Nations says should be met to for accommodation to be considered as adequate housing: security of tenure; availability of services and infrastructure; affordability; habitability; accessibility; location; and cultural adequacy.
Much of the green paper discusses affordability in the context of the 209,000 private rented properties in Wales, which make up just over half of all rented homes.
It points out that there is no universally accepted definition of a ‘fair rent’ and large variation across the country.
However, the Office for National Statistics defines ‘affordable’ as if a household spends 30 per cent or less of their income on rent and charges for other services.
For households on low incomes, that implies a maximum affordable monthly housing cost of £466.50 (including utilities, housing costs etc). The average monthly private sector rent in Wales is £550.
Research published alongside the green paper looks at the international experience of rent regulation and data on the rental market in Wales and identifies gaps in the data that need to be filled.
Organisations that have been campaigning for the right to adequate housing welcomed the green paper but questioned the implied timetable for the reforms.
The Back the Bill coalition, comprising CIH Cymru, Shelter Cymru and Tai Pawb, said: ‘The paper asks whether we think that the seven factors of adequacy identified by the UN are “something to aspire to achieving in Wales” and if so, “what mechanisms do you think are required to achieve the seven factors of housing adequacy”.
‘Our position is that legislation should be the mechanism through which we incorporate the right into Welsh law, based on these seven criteria identified in International law. It would compel statutory authorities to bring forward plans about how we deliver the right over the timeframe of progressive realisation, and those plans would identify monitoring arrangements and enforcement measures, as well as the investment needed to meet the scope of the legislation. We believe that legislation to incorporate the right is the starting point on a journey that will address the other issues raised in this Green Paper around affordability and the delivery of adequate housing.
‘The way this paper is framed, suggest that the Welsh Government believe the approach should be the other way around with a legal right to adequate housing coming after we have everything else in place – enough supply, rent controls, homelessness legislation etc. We believe housing is the 21st Century equivalent of the NHS – our predecessors did not wait for enough hospitals, doctors, and nurses to form the NHS – they recognised legislation would drive it and got on with it. And that’s the approach we should take now and incorporate a right to adequate housing in Wales.’
Matt Dicks, director of CIH Cymru, added: ‘CIH Cymru believes that legislation to incorporate the right to adequate housing through a progressively realised approach will compel statutory authorities to bring forward plans about how we deliver the right over the timeframe of progressive realisation, and those plans would identify monitoring arrangements and enforcement measures, as well as the investment needed to meet the scope of the legislation.
‘We believe that legislation to incorporate the right in Welsh law should be the starting point on a journey that will address other issues raised in this Green Paper around affordability and the delivery of adequate housing. For us, it’s clear that the time to act and bring about positive, long-lasting change is now, through legislation.’
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, warned that rent controls would be ‘a disaster for tenants’.
He said: ‘The minister herself diagnosed the issues when she rightly rejected calls for a rent freeze before Christmas. The same reasons apply now. We all want to see more homes available to rent but adopting the tried and failed ideology of rent controls is not the way to do it. The best way is to introduce pro-growth measures to increase housing supply that will reduce costs for renters.
‘Now is the time for landlords to get involved and for the Welsh Government listen carefully to the views of those providing much needed homes.’