POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE UK
UK
Welfare revolt follows spending review
The UK Government’s spending review set out how the Labour government at Westminster will allocate extra revenue and capital funding across departments.
However, the review announced in June was quickly overshadowed by a backbench revolt over welfare legislation that leaves a fiscal hole that will have to be filled in the Autumn Budget. Controversial cuts to personal independence payment, which would have disproportionately affected people in Wales, were withdrawn.
Under the Barnett Formula, revenue funding for Wales will increase in real terms but the capital budget will fall in real terms
Finance secretary Mark Drakeford said he would publish a one-year budget in October that will increase departmental budgets by inflation and a pool of unallocated funding will be created for the next Welsh Government.
ENGLAND
Boost for social housing starts ‘decade of renewal’
The spending review will deliver £39 billion over 10 years for the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) in England in what ministers claimed would be the biggest cash injection for at least a generation.
The funding extends beyond the four years of the spending review and compares with £11.5 billion over five years under the current Affordable Homes Programme. It also shifts the emphasis from affordable rent and home ownership to social rent.
A plan for ‘a decade of renewal’ forecasts that the SAHP will deliver 300,000 affordable homes over the next 10 years, with at least 180,000 for social rent.
The Westminster government also announced a 10-year settlement allowing social landlords to increase their rents by CPI plus 1 per cent and resume rent convergence of their cheapest rents plus further restrictions to (though not abolition of) the right to buy.
SCOTLAND
Social housebuilding shows significant fall
Completions of social housing in Scotland fell to their lowest level since 2016/17 and starts fell to their lowest since 2012/13.
Government statistics showed that the Affordable Housing Supply Programme produced 4,775 approvals, 5,424 starts and 7,444 completions in 2024/25, representing declines of at least 20 per cent on 2023/24.
The figures are used to inform progress on the Scottish Government’s target of 110,000 affordable homes by 2032, with at least 70 per cent for social rent.
By 2024-25, 28,537 affordable homes have been completed towards the target. These completions consist of 21,937 (77 per cent) homes for social rent, 4,087 (14 per cent) for affordable rent, and 2,513 (9 per cent) for affordable home ownership.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Poll reveals public’s views on homelessness
One in 14 people in Northern Ireland say they have experienced homelessness, according to a poll from Simon Community.
Almost one in three people say they have a direct connection to homelessness – either through their own experience, a family member, or someone they know – and working-class people are twice as likely to have been affected.
Some 95 per cent of people believe it is important to reduce homelessness in Northern Ireland, yet 93 per cent still underestimate its true scale and complexity with many still associating it primarily with rough sleeping in city centres.
Department for Communities figures published in June showed that 4,730 children and young people under 18 are currently living in temporary accommodation – over half of them aged nine or under.
WELSH GOVERNMENT
Bill will be ‘turning point’ in tackling homelessness
New legislation being introduced in the Senedd in May aims to fundamentally change our homelessness system, says the Welsh Government, so that it is focused on prevention and providing more tools to support people into longer-term homes.
The Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill focuses on a multi-agency response to homelessness, bringing public services together to respond to the varied causes and consequences of homelessness.
Key elements of the Bill include:
- Transforming the homelessness system in Wales so that it focusses on earlier identification and prevention
- Targeting action at those most at risk, for example by providing the opportunity to end homelessness amongst young people leaving care
- Focussing on a multi-agency response to homelessness, bringing Welsh public services together to respond to the varied causes and consequences of homelessness.
The Bill removes tests on priority need and intentionality that are seen as barriers to service provision and introduces a new local connection test and a new duty to provide help to retain suitable accommodation.
Public services will have a duty to ‘ask and act’ and localised case co-ordination will be required for certain groups at increased risk of homelessness.
A new duty aims to ensure that suitable accommodation is available for young people leaving care. This group also has ‘reasonable preference’ for social housing allocation.
Local authorities will have a new power to request social landlords accommodate someone owed a homelessness duty. Social landlords must comply, unless there is good reason.
Housing secretary Jayne Bryant said: ‘This Bill marks a turning point in how Wales tackles homelessness. I’m proud to introduce legislation that not only changes systems but will also transforms lives. Every person deserves a safe place to call home, and these reforms bring us closer to making that a reality across Wales.
For more on the Homelessness Bill see the themed section of WHQ in this issue.
Minister accepts all taskforce recommendations
Housing secretary Jayne Bryant said she would accept in full the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Taskforce and will chair an implementation group made up of senior officials and representatives from across the housing sector.
The taskforce was set up by and chaired by Labour MS Lee Waters. It was asked to focus both on short-term challenges to meet the Welsh Government target of 20,000 homes for social rent by the end of this Senedd term and system changes to streamline delivery.
Lee Waters said: ‘We did not find evidence of any quick fixes but there are a wide range of practical changes that can be made to speed up delivery of affordable housing by both the market and non-market routes.’
See Lee Waters interview this issue
Bill laid to improve safety of homes in Wales
Major legislation on building safety was laid before the Senedd in early July as part of Welsh Government’s programme of reforms to improve safety in residential buildings in response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
Housing secretary Jayne Bryant said that ‘safety, accountability, and residents’ voices’ were the three key principles of the Building Safety (Wales) Bill.
The Bill will require building safety risks to be assessed and managed while buildings are in occupation, for the benefit of residents and others, with a robust enforcement regime to back that up.
The scope of the Bill includes all buildings that contain at least two residential units, including certain Houses in Multiple Occupation. There will be three categories of buildings:
Category 1 – at least 18 metres in height or at least seven storeys and contains at least two residential units.
Category 2 – less than 18 metres and fewer than seven storeys and at least 11 metres in height or at least five storeys and contains at least two residential units.
Category 3 – less than 11 metres in height and fewer than five storeys and contains at least two residential units.
Implementation will start with Category 1 from April 2027.
The legislation will also create clear lines of accountability for duty holders, who will have legal responsibility for assessing and managing building safety, ending confusion over who is responsible for the safety of residents and others.
Additionally, the Bill will see residents in all regulated buildings provided with greater reassurances about the safety of their homes and clear routes for redress to raise building safety complaints, while also placing responsibilities on residents to play their part in keeping their building safe.
The programme of reforms includes:
- A programme of work aimed at addressing fire safety issues in multi-occupied residential buildings of 11m and above
- Significant reforms to the building control system
- Introducing new regulations for high-risk buildings
- Clearer responsibilities for duty holders
- Mandatory registration and regulation of building control professionals.
Jayne Bryant said: ’This landmark Bill will fundamentally transform safety in multi-occupied residential buildings across Wales. Its key principles are safety, accountability and residents’ voices, and it goes wider and further than existing legislation in other parts of the UK. The legacy of Grenfell Tower must be meaningful change. We owe it to those who lost their lives, their families, and the survivors to ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again.’
Committee warns of housing support burnout
The Welsh Government should be more assertive and improve how it uses evidence and data in its drive to make rapid rehousing a reality for people facing homelessness, according to a Senedd Committee.
A report by the Senedd’s Local Government and Housing Committee said that it was ‘surprised’ the Welsh Government does not hold national-level data on housing support need.
The committee also says it is ‘concerning’ that this data is not used by the Welsh Government in assessing long-term Housing Support Grant funding requirements. This short-term approach results in the sector spending significant effort in campaigning every year for budget increases to avert crisis.
Some local authorities are commissioning large-scale supported accommodation which houses 70 or more people on a permanent basis in one building.
Concerns were raised with the committee about this approach, but with a lack of evidence and data on whether this accommodation is suitable, it is calling on the Welsh Government to commission an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of large-scale supported accommodation, considering the perspectives of tenants.
The report also says that staff who support vulnerable people to avoid homelessness are facing high levels of burnout and stress due to the overwhelming number of crisis situations they deal with, often without backup from services such as police and mental health support. Many staff who support vulnerable people to avoid homelessness are themselves at risk of homelessness, it says.
The committee calls this situation ‘unacceptable’ and says the housing support workforce, who enable vulnerable people to live independently, should not be treated any less favourably than those working in health and social care.
John Griffiths MS, chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee, said, “Staff working in this sector do an incredible job in extremely challenging circumstances. Supporting people who might have multiple, complex issues such as mental health problems or substance misuse is no easy task, but we heard that many staff are at breaking point.’
The committee welcomed the Welsh Government’s commitment to more funding which it says will allow the Real Living Wage (RLW) to be paid to housing support workers. However, many organisations in the sector told the committee the extra money would not cover the cost of paying their staff the Real Living Wage and that the impact of increased National Insurance contributions would have a significant effect on their budgets, even to a point where they might have to stop providing services.
Welsh Housing Survey approved
Housing secretary Jayne Bryant said she had approved the business case for a Welsh Housing Survey in 2027/28.
She said the last survey – a national housing conditions survey – was delivered in 2017-18 and added that ‘I know many stakeholders, including members of the Housing and Local Government Committee, have been calling for a further survey to provide an updated evidence base’.
Fieldwork will be carried out in 2027/28 with headline results available from 2028/29 and more detailed findings from 2029/30.
Consultations
Open consultations of interest to WHQ readers include:
A new rent and service charge standard for Wales – responses by 12 August
Codes of practice for the management of student accommodation – responses by 27 August
Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services – responses by September 26
WALES
New loan fund could support 4,000 homes
Developers of residential and mixed-use property developments in Wales can now access up to £10 million in finance from the Development Bank of Wales for both speculative and non-speculative developments.
Funded by the Welsh Government, the Wales Residential Property Fund will offer SME developers clear and easy access to flexible loans ranging from £150,000 to £10 million with repayment terms of up to four years and up to 100 per cent of build costs. The £117 million fund is fully recyclable so is expected to have a total investment impact of £770 million by 2039, providing certainty of funding to the market, and will support the construction of 4,450 new homes. It merges funds previously available under the Wales Property Development Fund and Wales Stalled Sites Fund.
A second phase of the Green Development Incentive, is also being made available, offering discounted rates for housing projects that deliver more thermally efficient and lower carbon homes in Wales. The Incentive will provide £60 million of lower cost loans over the next two years.
The Development Bank reported a 27 per cent increase in funding for property development projects in the last financial year ending 31 March 2025 with £48 million compared to £38 million in 2023/24. Led by property fund manager Nicola Crocker, the dedicated team provided funding to 23 property businesses working on 24 new developments with 390 new homes delivered, 125 of which were affordable, plus commercial space.
Newport homelessness project gets royal support
Housing Justice, Barnardo’s and Pobl Group joined forces in a project to tackle the rising number of people being forced into homelessness and rough sleeping in Newport.
The HomeLife Partnership at The Hive in Newport is funded by Homewards, the programme set up by the Royal Foundation and Prince William to prove that it is possible to end homelessness.
Homelife will run support services in Newport for 12 months to address the growing need in the area and aims to identify people at risk of homelessness and provide tailored, early intervention through community-based services to reduce the number of people at crisis point needing access to more intensive services.
The HomeLife Partners are all members of the Homewards Newport Coalition, a group of committed organisations in the area working with The Royal Foundation and Homewards to make homelessness rare, brief and unrepeated.
Support will come in three different ways: the volunteer-led ‘Citadel’ homelessness prevention, community integration and tenancy sustainment programme launched by Housing Justice; workshops for families run by Barnardo’s; and Pobl providing the Hub as a safe and welcoming community space.
Merger partners choose new name
Codi Group was chosen as the name for the new housing association formed through the merger of Pobl Group and Linc Cymru in April 2024.
Codi is the Welsh word for ‘Rise’ and the name recognises the deep-rooted Welsh identity of the new Group and its desire to meet the expectations of customers and the opportunities that lie ahead.
Codi Group will formally adopt its new identity on 1st January 2026. Managing close to 25,000 homes and providing care and support services to almost 17,000 individuals, the Group has ambitious plans to deliver more than 4,500 new homes over the next five years.
Bringing together more than 3,000 colleagues, the organisation says it is a major contributor to the Welsh economy, built on a strong foundation of partnership, shared values and a deep commitment to creating long-term local impact.
Trivallis bids to change narrative on ASB
Trivallis is calling on housing providers and partners across the public sector to reframe their approach to antisocial behaviour (ASB), moving away from incident management toward place-based, community-led system change.
At a recent multi-stakeholder workshop hosted by the housing association, professionals and residents co-developed a new narrative around ASB, one that places community safety, trust and cohesion at the heart of strategy. The event highlighted the need for cross-sector collaboration, deeper prevention work, and environment-focused interventions that tackle root causes and not just visible behaviours.
‘We’re not interested in simply firefighting,’ said Keiron Montague, executive director of communities at Trivallis. ‘We want to work in partnership to create neighbourhoods that feel safe and supportive — and that means involving housing, local authorities, police, health and the community itself from the outset.’
The top three priorities that emerged from the session were:
- Systemic partnership working: Embedding joined-up responses across services, reducing duplication and building shared accountability with the community at the centre.
- Early Intervention for root causes: Recognising the role of trauma, mental health and substance misuse in ASB — and designing support systems that are compassionate and proactive.
- Investment in place: Applying behavioural insights and environment design to counter the ‘broken window’ effect and restore pride in neglected spaces.
Trivallis is now mobilising plans to run additional workshops across its communities, working with local partners and residents to co-design strategies and responses that reflect the lived realities on the ground.
Trivallis says housing is only one part of the system and is inviting others to join the next stage of this work and help deliver the safer, welcoming and connected neighbourhoods that people deserve. To get involved email huw.cook@trivallis.co.uk
PUBLICATIONS 10 TO LOOK OUT FOR
1) Affordable Housing Taskforce: report and recommendations
Welsh Government, May 2025
www.gov.wales/affordable-housing-taskforce-report-and-recommendations-html
2) Poverty in Wales 2025
Joseph Rowntree Foundation, June 2025
www.jrf.org.uk/poverty-in-wales-2025
3) The homelessness monitor: Wales 2025
Crisis, Heriot-Watt University, April 2025
www.crisis.org.uk/media/50jfjipn/the-homelessness-monitor-wales-2025.pdf
4) A fair and equitable transition? Tenants’ experiences of decarbonising social housing
The Open University, Tai Pawb, May 2025
www.taipawb.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/A-Fair-and-Equitable-Transition-report-English.pdf
5) Housing support for vulnerable people
Senedd Local Government and Housing Committee, May 2025
laiddocuments.senedd.wales/cr-ld17174-en.pdf
6) Greening homes, creating growth: Unlocking demand for green home finance
UK Finance, June 2025
7) Transforming social housing through decarbonisation: The challenges and opportunities in decarbonising at scale
UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence, May 2025
8) New stable: Expanding and reforming the role of the Local Government Pension Scheme in driving affordable housing
Localis, May 2025
localis.org.uk/research/new-stable/
9) The impact of caring on housing
CarersUK, May 2025
www.carersuk.org/reports/the-impact-of-caring-on-housing/
10) How affordable private rents can help tackle health inequalities and homelessness
Health Equals, Crisis, May 2025