Plaid Cymru has won 42 seats in the Senedd election, putting the party in a position to form a minority government. Reform came in second with 34 seats, leaving Labour, which has been in government in Wales for 27 years, trailing in third with just nine seats.
The results mark a seismic change for Welsh politics. Labour has never before returned fewer than 26 seats in the previously 60-seat Senedd, and enjoyed political hegemony in Wales for a century.
While the exact makeup of the next government remains to be seen, here’s a reminder of what Plaid has promised on housing.
Legislate for the right to adequate housing
The party has promised a housing policy including ‘progressively realising this right’, addressing homelessness, ensuring housing costs better reflect local incomes, supporting community ownership and promoting Welsh language and culture.
Deliver 20,000 new social homes by 2030
Plaid Cymru has said it would accelerate the delivery of social housing, ‘delivering at least 20,000 new social homes by 2030’, and reduce regulatory requirements to building and buying more social homes, including through ‘more balanced energy efficiency requirements’. It would also encourage investment in housebuilding by Welsh pension funds investing in areas such as housing and energy.
Establish Unnos
Plaid Cymru has said it would establish Unnos as a new national development body and social housing enabler. Responsibilities would include working with local authorities, land assembly, assistance with planning and project management, facilitating access to funding and encouraging innovation.
Fair private rents
The party has said it would introduce new measures including:
- Ending no-fault evictions
- Restricting rental bidding by requiring properties to be let at the advertised price
- Fair rent setting ‘through limiting annual rent increases to the lower of wage growth or consumer price index inflation, or a clearly defined equivalent Benchmark’.
Renew Welsh housing stock
Plaid Cymru has said it would make the renewal of Welsh housing stock ‘a national mission’ and expand access to retrofitting schemes by adopting a tenure-neutral, area-based approach while protecting crisis support for those in the most acute fuel poverty. Its new retrofit programme would include ‘practical and achievable energy efficiency standards’ to enable more homes to be upgraded faster and more cost-effectively.
Whatever happens next, Wales will be in a new political landscape and the housing sector is sure to feel the impact in both the short- and long-term.
I am delighted to be taking the reins at Welsh Housing Quarterly and hope the magazine can continue to support and celebrate the sector during – and beyond – this time of change.
Please do get in touch with me with your ideas for articles and for WHQ more widely. I would love to hear your thoughts. I can be contacted on sallylhales@yahoo.co.uk