WE NEED FURTHER COUNCIL HOUSE BUILDING

MIKE HEDGES MS

We have a national housing shortage, and the private housing sector can only provide a limited solution to this. In Swansea there are over six thousand people on the Council waiting list and it will take many years for the number of private rented properties to increase to house these people even if they can afford the deposits and bonds. Council houses have provided good housing and helped provide strong and stable communities, which were good places to live and bring up children in the past and can be so again.

I urge all local authorities in Wales along with the Welsh Government to support new council house building, incorporating the latest energy efficient heating and high levels of insulation to provide good high quality homes for everyone. Better housing will lead to better lives, better health, and better education outcomes for our children — a win — win — win for everyone!’

We need to talk about housing much more often than we do. I believe housing is important, and until we deal with housing effectively to create a balance between supply and demand, there will continue to be a problem. A lot of the problems we have in education and health stem from inadequate housing. There are two answers to the housing crisis, using actions that have previously worked. The one I prefer is to build council houses at the scale required to meet demand. This worked between the 1950s and the 1970s.

Obviously, the Conservatives have a different view. That is to abandon planning controls. This worked in the 1930s and it would work today but there are substantial environmental costs. Do people want to see large-scale uncontrolled development in areas of outstanding natural beauty, national parks, rural and seaside areas. Because that is what abandoning planning regulations means you can build anything anywhere. Look at the areas that you cherish as green and pleasant do you want all of them built on.

The UK Government’s freeze on local housing allowances means that most people and families receiving local housing allowance rates face a gap between rates paid and their rent. This increases the risk of homelessness, as it becomes increasingly difficult for people to keep up with paying rent, on top of covering other essentials, such as food and energy bills.

Over the last 50 years, the housing mix has changed. There has been a decline in council housing and a substantial increase in the number of privately rented properties. The privately rented sector is now the second most common tenure after owner occupation. There has been a growth in the number of private property owners. We need to remember that most private property owners are good property owners and treat their tenants well. A lot of these only own one property, and many of these were bought via a mortgage or inherited from family.

Superficially, freezing rents in the private rental sector is attractive, but it freezes rents as they are now, and some rents are too high and others too low, relative to properties of the same type. With interest rates rising, it could lead to properties having to be sold. If what happens is that the properties are sold and then bought by first-time buyers, that would be a great thing. Reducing the number of privately rented properties, increasing the number of owner occupiers is good. Unfortunately, we have the wild west of housing, Airbnb, and that is what worries me, that people will take these houses from renting to families and put them into Airbnb removing the property from the housing market.

Quoting from Crisis, who are a major housing charity an immediate flood of notices to quit and letters notifying of rent increases are what they fear would happen with a rent freeze. Crisis would advise learning from the recent announcements of similar legislation in Scotland. During the delay between announcement and enactment, colleagues across the housing sector in Scotland reported tenants being issued with notices to quit and letters notifying them of rent increases.

I support rent controls. I want rent officers to be brought back. Because property owners can evict tenants with a section 21 notice once the fixed term expires, Welsh tenants lack any real rent controls. The property owner can ask them to pay a higher rent or find new tenants if they refuse. This demonstrates the ease with which tenants can be evicted and is intimately linked to the lack of rent controls.

A moratorium on evictions looks attractive but could simply postpone evictions until it is lifted. If tenants decide not to pay rent to their property owners, they may accrue serious rent arrears that then provide a ground for eviction. From 1 December, new tenancies in Wales will be subject to a six-month no-fault eviction ban, and the Welsh Government are consulting on extending this to existing tenancies. I just think no-fault evictions should be ended now. Never should anybody be asked to leave and lose their home having done nothing wrong. That is fundamentally unfair, and it breaks the balance between property owner and tenant.

With a shortage of supply and a strong demand, rents rise. The only effective solution is the large-scale building of council houses. It worked before and it will work again.

Mike Hedges is the Senedd member for Swansea East