Committee ‘concerned’ Welsh government’s 20,000 social homes target will not meet demand

A committee in the Senedd has said it is concerned the Welsh government’s target to build 20,000 social rent homes by March 2026 will not be met and that the figure should also be three times higher to meet demand.

A report published yesterday by the Housing and Local Government Committee, which scrutinises the government’s work on housing, recommended that social housing should make up 20% of Wales’s total housing stock.

The Housing and Local Government Committee’s report said: “We are supportive of the 20,000 social homes for rent target and want to see it succeed. However we are concerned that the target will not be met, and even if met, it will not be sufficient to address current demand.”

To achieve this, the government would need to deliver an additional 60,000 social homes.

The inquiry into social housing supply found that social housing currently accounts for 16% of Wales’s housing stock.

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This figure is based on evidence from Sorcha Edwards, general secretary of Housing Europe, who argued that social housing must make up at least 20% of a nation’s housing stock to provide adequate options for people and help balance prices in the private market.

As of May 2023, there were around 90,000 Welsh households on social housing waiting lists.

In a report by Audit Wales which was published in September, it warned that the 20,000 social homes target will not be met without significant additional spending.

By the end of 2023-24, three years into the five-year programme, the Welsh government estimated that it had secured fewer than 50% of the 20,000 low carbon social rent homes. 

The Senedd committee has recommended that the Welsh Government provide a breakdown of the homes delivered towards the 20,000 target to date, specifying how many are for social rent, intermediate rent, shared ownership, and temporary accommodation.

In its evidence, not-for-profit developer Tirion Homes stated that there is “little prospect of the 20,000 target being achieved”, due to the impact of inflation, tightening credit markets, slowdown in private housebuilding and lack of capacity in the construction sector.

However, Tirion said there is an opportunity to unlock institutional investment for further large-scale affordable housing sites, ideally for investments of over £300m.

The report also highlighted a specific issue relating to a shortage of one-bedroom social rent properties compared to two and three bedroom homes, with CIH Cymru, Swansea Council and Planning Officers Society Wales (POSW) noting a “massive demand” for one bedroom homes. 

However, POSW noted the need to balance providing more one bedroom homes with delivering ‘mixed communities’.

John Griffiths MS, chair of the Local Government and Housing Committee, said that the report shows that the Welsh Government “has a long way to go if they are to reach their target of 20,000 new homes by 2026”.    

“A crucial part of delivering this is ensuring that there is a suitable mix of homes being built which must include more one-bedroom properties. The Welsh Government must work with local authorities and housing associations to make sure that this message gets through.”  

“The Welsh Government needs to look at all the options at its disposal to tackle this problem. Empowering the Development Bank of Wales to become a direct funder of social housing developments is one way to boost the number of homes being built.     

“If we want to get to grips with the housing crisis then we have to build more social housing urgently - before the waiting lists get even longer.”