CHC respond to Welsh Government Programme for Government
Today Welsh Government announced their Programme for Government (2016-2021) and confirmed their ambitious target of delivering 20,000 affordable homes for this Assembly term. This target consists of 14,000 affordable homes for rent and the construction of 6,000 homes through the Help to Buy Scheme.
Stuart Ropke, Chief Executive of Community Housing Cymru (CHC) said: “We welcome the confirmation of this target having called for an ambitious plan for housing along with other Homes for Wales coalition partners in the run up to the election. We held an event with the sector and Carl Sargeant, Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children this morning to discuss how we deliver the 20,000 homes, and the sector is up for the challenge.”
“We now need to ensure that the Welsh Government matches its ambitions with funding, and creates a policy environment to support this delivery, including continuing to provide a fair rent settlement and in the event of reclassification, ensuring that Housing Associations return to the private sector.”
“The Programme for Government also confirmed that legislation will be brought forward to end the right to buy in Wales. Around 130,000 council homes have been bought under Right to Buy since 1980 which has had a huge impact on the supply of affordable housing.”
“We also welcome the continued support for the work of Rural Housing Enablers. These independent housing experts work in partnership with Local Authorities, Housing Associations, National Parks and rural communities to develop affordable rural housing solutions. They play a significant role in ensuring the viability and sustainability of rural communities by overcoming many of the barriers in rural areas, such as identifying appropriate sites and assessing local needs.
We look forward to seeing more details around each of these policy areas and we look forward to working with partners including Welsh Government and the WLGA to ensure that we meet this ambitious target. You can view our full briefing for members looking at the impact of Programme for Government on the sector here
The full document ‘Welsh Government Taking Wales Forward’ can be viewed here: http://gov.wales/docs/strategies/160920-taking-wales-forward-en.pdf