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Meeting the housing challenge: what YOU said…..

Earlier this year, Housing Minister Huw Lewis, set out his views on the current housing challenges in Wales in the policy paper Meeting the Housing Challenge: Building a Consensus for Action. Vikki Hiscocks provides an overview of responses to this important consultation which helped inform the development of the housing White Paper.

The statement and the opportunity to comment on it were explicitly welcomed by many of the organisations and individuals who responded. With the prospect of a first Welsh Housing Bill generally considered to be an important development in delivering housing solutions holistically in Wales, although the Government was urged to implement the Bill with strong leadership and clear lines of accountability, a plan for delivery and adequate resources for enforcement. Overall, the cross-cutting scope of the document and its attempt to tackle an extremely wide-ranging and complex series of inter-related issues was commended.

Consistently emphasised was the need to ensure linkages with current and emerging legislation in other areas including the need to join up the broader legislative programme on Planning, Social Care, and Sustainable Development. There was a strong feeling that this should reflect and inform the development of the Housing Bill to support shared policy outcomes. The impact that housing has across a range of other Government responsibilities and priorities was also mentioned by a large number of respondents with frequent requests for actions arising from the paper to be aligned across Government departments. For example, requests for stronger and more strategic links between housing, health and social care, and recognition of the positive impact that housing has on the economy and the track record of housing organisations in delivering regeneration.

The concept of Welsh Governments role as ‘system steward’ floated in the consultation seems to have captured the housing zeitgeist as it received widespread and enthusiastic support, along with acceptance that a co-production approach should be seen as the modus operandi of the housing sector: A large number of respondents emphasised the need for all partners to collaborate to deliver the ambitions encapsulated in the paper, with the need to intensify the pace and range of partnerships, albeit recognising the increasing pressures on partnerships during difficult times.

Increasing supply

Undersupply was almost universally acknowledged by respondents as one of the key housing challenges, with many pointing to this as the root cause of other problems in the housing system. In particular, the need to significantly up the scale of current house building activity was strongly advocated. Many organisations made reference to the housing evidence base in Wales and the current shortcomings in how we assess housing need and demand in Wales.

A wide and varied number of approaches to tackling undersupply were suggested. However, a common theme was that a range of solutions will be needed and that the Welsh Government will need to use all the tools at its disposal. The main message centred on the need to find new and innovative funding models, albeit with realistic acknowledgements that there is no silver bullet that will provide the additional funding that is needed.

A significant number of respondents agreed that land is a significant issue in increasing housing supply and gave their support to the idea of releasing public land for housing, providing this land is of the right quality and in the right location. Most respondents saw a key role for Welsh Government in leading this agenda, with some suggesting that Welsh Government and other public bodies should go beyond just releasing land and consider more coercive approaches, including compulsory purchase if necessary.

There was a huge degree of consensus around the need to tackle the issue of empty homes, with most people welcoming the announcement of the £5 million loan scheme as a positive step in taking forward this issue. Whilst this additional investment was largely welcomed, some responses did seek to highlight some of the limitations of this particular funding stream, arguing that it would only resolve some of the underlying problems. There was a general and recurring message that the loan scheme should be seen as part of a package of measures, with other activity including:

  • Welsh Government giving a strong steer to local authorities
  • replicating good practice as closely as possible
  • a PR initiative to raise public awareness
  • provision of consultancy support to empty property officers to build their capacity and knowledge
  • training for different local authority departments – legal, council tax etc.

One area of policy which sparked some particularly interesting reactions was the way in which the consultation paper dealt with definitions of social and affordable housing. Many looked positively on the views presented in the paper, supporting both the expressed commitment to social housing and the way the terms ‘social housing’ and ‘affordability’ are defined. Other organisations felt that there is still some work to be done to achieve further clarity on these issues and that more discussion is needed on this whole agenda.

Another interesting issue which for debate was that of tenancy reform. Taking all the responses into account, there was common support for tenancy reform across the social and private rented sectors, with people generally favouring the harmonisation of tenancy type and terms between local authorities and housing associations, often advocating the Law Commission proposals as the best approach to this issue. A very small number of respondents felt that tenure reform, in the current economic climate, would prove difficult for many in the housing sector even if it is desirable in the long term. The views from these responses were that at a time when we are being encouraged to innovate in the provision and funding of housing, spending time and effort on this aspect of tenure reform could be a distraction, and has the potential of stifling that innovation.

Improving quality

There was considerable agreement with the consultation’s treatment of quality issues with particular support for the cross tenure approach taken in the paper. In the social housing sector, many respondents were concerned about the current prospects for those authorities where tenants have voted no to stock transfer, stressing the need for Welsh Government to work with local authorities to explore alternative funding options. Other comments on WHQS focussed on how the standard should be reviewed or amended going forward, either in developing a successor standard or amending certain aspects of WHQS such as those related to environment sustainability.

There was almost universal agreement with the need to improve the quality of private rented sector accommodation, both in terms of the physical quality of the stock and the quality of the management services provided by landlords. A number of responses alluded to the 2011 Communities and Culture Report recommendations and called for these to be taken forward as a matter of urgency.

There were a number of comments to imply that the consultation could have gone further in its consideration of issues relegated to environmental and green issues, and that better links could have been made to the Welsh Government’s wider sustainability duties. Whilst many welcomed the focus that Welsh Government has placed on the development of energy efficient homes and funding for refurbishment and energy programmes, there was a call for better integration between Arbed and UK-led schemes. There was agreement that social landlords are extremely well placed to instigate energy efficiency improvements, not just in their own stock, but potentially in other tenures also as part of area-based programmes.

Better housing services and support

There was unsurprisingly a clear mandate for making homelessness a Government priority. Most organisations welcomed the Welsh government’s review of homelessness prevention and legislation at a time when homelessness numbers are increasing by the day. Two key themes dominates comments and discussions on homelessness:

  • ensuring that homelessness is not just a housing issue
  • how to further develop the prevention agenda

In relation to prevention, people felt that the central thrust of Welsh Government’s approach must be a greater focus on preventing homelessness rather than on rehousing people after it has happened, although a number of organisations highlighted some tensions between the prevention agenda and the requirements of the legislation. Overall, most people advocated a fair and considered system that balances the needs of the local community and the needs of vulnerable people.

Finally, in relation to housing advice, there was universal support for the principle of ready access to timely, accurate and impartial advice with support for the concept of advice ‘hubs’ evident across a broad range of organisations. People were particularly keen on efforts to standardise the quality of advice and support and some organisations particularly welcomed establishing co-working in relation to housing advice and homelessness. However, a number of respondents suggested that they would need further information before they could offer more detailed comments, particularly in relation to the concept of a nationally branded service.

More information

A full copy of the summary analysis report compiled by CIH Cymru was published alongside the White Paper and is available on the Welsh Government website wales.gov.uk.


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