Derek Walker asks how the housing sector can take a more active role in delivering the Well-being of Future Generations Act to solve the housing crisis.
In Wales we can be proud to be the first country to legislate for the well-being of future generations – a law that means we must act now, but do so while thinking of the future. Let’s use it to transform the housing sector and achieve our well-being goals.
The Well-being of Future Generations (WFG) Act is crucial to future-fit housing in a healthier, more equal Wales, with more cohesive communities. We need the housing sector to apply this ground-breaking law in their work to reach these ambitions faster.
How? My strategy, Cymru Can, calls for everyone in Wales to unite and use the Act for wider and faster change, and the housing sector, key to achieving our well-being goals, has a pivotal role in solving some of the major challenges facing future generations.
From the de-carbonisation of homes to reaching our net-zero goals, to the way place-making shapes our health, and the potential for increasing biodiversity and connection with nature where people live, there are opportunities for all homes to be fit for the future.
Registered social landlords (RSLs) are not currently amongst the 56 devolved organisations covered by the WFG Act (although the social housing run by 11 local authorities is covered by their responsibilities under the legislation) but many social landlords are already following the sustainable development principle. This is the ‘how to’ of the Act (collaboration, involvement, integration, prevention and long-term thinking), particularly in tenant involvement and co-production.
I’m calling for the social housing sector to go further, starting with more clearly aligning itself to the WFG Act.
Social landlords can better communicate how they’re embedding the five ways of working, increasing the positive impact their work has on current and future generations, and taking a more active role in leading for change across other sectors.
In practice, this could mean developing and reporting on a set of well-being objectives – with the involvement of local communities, in the same way that organisations covered by the legislation are required to do. It would offer an opportunity to really ensure the sector is delivering on all of the ways that it is central to well-being for the future.
The WFGA has shifted Wales to a more progressive national curriculum, active travel over road building as standard, and a commitment to a well-being economy, and we’re seeing positive work already in the housing sector, contributing to the missions in Cymru Can.
Initiatives such as the new Zero Carbon Hwb are a step forward in collaboration and joint learning on retro-fit and sustainable building in a way that ensures local job creation for example, with impacts relevant to Cymru Can’s climate, health and economy missions.
Examples such as the Tre Cwm regeneration scheme led by Catrefi Conwy show how places can be re-designed to support play, access to green space and nature, and connections between people, with impacts across health, climate and nature, culture and for a well-being economy.
I’m calling for the housing sector to do more to help Wales implement Cymru Can by embedding the seven well-being goals of the Future Generations legislation not just across projects such as these, but across all actions they take. How could the whole delivery strategy of a social landlord contribute towards restoring nature for example, or enhancing cultural well-being, beyond the impact demonstrated by individual projects?
Many of the ways the housing sector currently contributes to well-being goals is through the social value clauses in their procurement. Examples of the benefits range from increased local employment to infrastructure improvements such as community gardens and support for community organisations as exemplified by the work of the community champions at Tai Tarian.
Embedding a WFG approach within these social value clauses would include applying the five ways of working to the way the clauses operate, strengthening the impacts and encouraging a focus on longer-term well-being benefits and outcomes. It would also require social landlords to consider all aspects of well-being and to look at global impacts as well as local ones, through consideration of the globally responsible Wales goal.
Next year will be the 10th anniversary of the Well-being of Future Generations Act. In the future there may be opportunities to look again at how the legislation operates and who is covered. Perhaps there is an argument to be made for including registered social landlords under the legislation in the future, given the synergies between their work and the aspirations of the Act.
In the meantime, we need the housing sector to build on the innovation and leadership already being shown and to do all it can to contribute to well-being in Wales.
I’m calling for the housing sector to make the well-being of future generations approach business as usual.
Derek Walker is Future Generations Commissioner for Wales. Picture: Huw John