North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has criticised the Labour Welsh Government for not addressing the housing needs of the people of Wales.
In yesterday’s Welsh Conservative debate on Housing, Welsh Conservative MSs highlighted the housing crisis facing Wales, with the most recent statistics showing that in 2020-21, 4,314 dwellings were started, 53.4% less than in 1999, and that 4,616 dwellings were completed, 47% less than in 1999.
In the debate Members blasted Labour’s poor record of house building which exacerbated issues of affordability, with the rise in house prices far out stripping wages in Wales.
Intervening on a point made by Labour MS Mike Hedges that the money from the sale of council houses “was not able to be used to build more council houses, it had to be kept in a separate account? it was a law brought in by the Conservative Government, but that was the law”, Mr Isherwood said:
“I just wanted to comment on your opening comment about the law, and, you're quite right, the Housing Revenue Account System was exactly as you described. Of course, the post-2010 (Conservative) Government then scrapped that in England so councils were able to come to an arrangement on their debt levels and start reinvesting the proceeds. But the Welsh Government took years to implement the same measures that had been available to them from that point. Is that not a matter of concern?”
In a further intervention, Mr Isherwood said:
“I recently found a speech I gave to a housing audience externally - I'd been invited as somebody who used to work in the sector, I emphasise in the mutual sector and the housing association sector. But I quoted a letter I'd received from the Principality Building Society, which stated that high house prices are being driven by a lack of supply of both private and social housing. I also quoted the fact that the Welsh social housing grant was 45 per cent lower than in 1996-97, which happened to be the last year of the old Conservative Government. That was in 2004, 18 years ago. Do you share my regret that, whenever I brought forward a motion, sometimes jointly with Plaid Cymru at that time, referring to the housing crisis, all the Welsh Government did was put down an amendment to remove the word 'crisis' from the motion and then force through the vote?”
Speaking after the debate, Mr Isherwood added:
“Having previously worked in the sector for over two decades, I know that the housing supply crisis in Wales goes back to the very early days of devolution and is the direct responsibility of policy-led decisions initially taken by Labour and Labour-led Welsh Governments from 1999. Rather than work with the sector, private and social, it chose to give housing a low priority, to slash funding for social and affordable housing, and to demonise private house builders. Wales is still reaping what they sowed.”