Mike Hedges AM asks Welsh Government Minister what can be
done to encourage Council House Building in Wales
Speaking from the Assembly, Swansea East AM, Mike Hedges AM
said… There was a time when Swansea had over 16000 council houses, now it has
well under half that; the need for social housing has not decreased however.
Some of the council houses my generation grew up in remain some remain some of
the best houses in Swansea. It is important that the Welsh Government
encourages and does all that it can to assist Local Authorities to build houses
again. I am so pleased that Swansea Council are building houses again and I was
pleased to accompany the Minister on a visit to the new council house building
site in Birchgrove, Swansea. These new energy efficient homes show what can be
achieved and I hope that Swansea – and other local authorities – build with the
same enthusiasm as was shown in the post war house building boom.
Mike Hedges AM - We know that only
twice since the First World War have houses been built in the numbers necessary
to meet demand. Once was in 1930 when there was very little control over
development; I think that was what Mohammad Asghar was asking for earlier. And
the second time was in the 1950s and 1960s when we had the large-scale building
of council housing, and not only large-scale building of council housing but
the necessary infrastructure to go with it. I wish to stress the importance of
large-scale council house building to meet housing need; I believe it's the
only way we actually are going to be able to meet the needs of housing, because
it's not in the best interest of private developers to build sufficient because
that would depress prices, and their aim is to maximise profit. So, they wish
to increase prices as much as they possibly can. That's how Redrow made just
under £400 million profit last year. What is the Government doing to enable
this to occur?126
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Julie James AM - I agree
with Mike Hedges; I think we're on the same page entirely. Traditionally, local
authorities were indeed the prime providers of social housing across the UK
with, of course, the massive house building programme that came in the post-war
period. And those houses are still very popular homes today for some of the
most vulnerable residents in our communities. But the building programmes were
curtailed by financial restraints imposed by the UK Government on Welsh and
other local authorities, and that has largely meant that large-scale council
housing has been severely limited for a generation; in fact, since Margaret
Thatcher introduced the right to buy legislation back in the late 1980s.127
So, we do recognise the
important role councils have in building new homes for local people, and I'm
very enthused that we are potentially on the cusp of a new golden age for
social housing in Wales. The Member, Mike Hedges, is completely right that the
biggest increase in the scale and pace of social housing is expected to come
from our local authorities, now they're able to build once again. The borrowing
cap has finally been lifted by the UK Government, who've seen the light it
seems, and there is an opportunity to turn council house building ambitions
once more into results.128
I've just had the
affordable housing supply review published, and I'll be responding to those
recommendations shortly. That review specifically considers what support local
authorities will need to help them build again at pace and scale. We are
welcoming of both the review and the lifting of the cap. We want to work very
fast now to see whether we can get a revolution in social housing once again in
Wales
