Proposed Affordable Housing LCO Committee - The National Assembly For Wales (Legislative Competence) (No.5) Order 2008 relating to the disposal of dwellings and dwelling houses by social landlords (Affordable Housing)
28th January 2008
Cymorth Cymru is the representative body for supported housing and homelessness providers in Wales and as such has two overarching objectives:
To improve the links between policy and practice by ensuring those working in front line service delivery understand the wider policy context, and those working in policy development understand and are influenced by the experiences and knowledge of those working on the ground.
To ensure that supported housing maximises its contribution to the lives of service users and the communities in which they live by helping to build and develop the sector’s capacity and professionalism.
1 Background
The proposed LCO comes against the backdrop of a prolonged depletion of social housing stock in Wales, and growing concern about the impact that this is having on the availability of secure, affordable accommodation across all housing sectors. Cymorth Cymru is primarily concerned for the welfare and opportunities of economically disadvantaged or otherwise vulnerable people across the country, and therefore considers that any and all approaches to retaining and improving access to social housing are worthy of serious consideration.
Housing and homelessness are currently high on the political agenda in Wales, and it is important that this wider policy-making context is taken into account in considering the current proposal. Cymorth Cymru welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the forthcoming National Housing Strategy, Supporting People Strategy and 10-year Homelessness Plan - all of which are to be developed over the coming year.
2 Summary
Cymorth Cymru supports the principle of the proposed Order - ie, that the Assembly should have conferred upon it the power to suspend the Right to Buy and the Right to Acquire dwellings held by social landlords in areas of housing pressure.
Although we believe that the careful and considered use of this power is likely to impact positively on the retention and longer-term availability of social housing in parts of Wales, we consider that there may be merit in delaying judgment about the breadth of the proposed Order until such time as wider national strategies have been more fully discussed and formulated.
3 Discussion and recommendations
This proposal is outlined in the One Wales document as part of a range of measures to address the poor availability of affordable housing in Wales - including an enhanced social housing building programme and the development of new powers for local authorities to increase the proportion of affordable housing on development sites. Coinciding, too, with fundamental reviews of Wales’s housing, support and homelessness strategies, the current proposal is being considered within a dynamic policy-making environment.
Therefore, whilst supporting the principles presented in the proposal, we would suggest that at this stage the full benefits, or most suitable framing, of the Order may not yet be clear. With further ideas likely to emerge during wider policy debates over the coming year, we would recommend delaying the final draft of this proposal until such time as these can be taken into account.
For further information please contact Cymorth Cymru.
Cymorth Cymru
Norbury House
Norbury Rd
Fairwater
Cardiff
CF5 3AS
Tel (029) 2055 3687
