4. What work has the Welsh Government undertaken to secure adequate housing and fair rent for the people of Bridgend and Porthcawl? OQ60528

Thank you very much for the question. I'm delighted to say that Bridgend County Borough Council has just joined the Welsh Government’s Leasing Scheme Wales. This is the £30 million programme providing grants to local authorities to secure and manage safe and affordable accommodation from the private sector, including properties that were previously empty.

Thank you, Minister. That's wonderful to hear. As you know, housing being one of the biggest concerns for people across Wales, the publication of the Welsh Government's Green Paper on housing adequacy and fair rents has been welcomed and has been said to be a huge step forward by many. As we know, there are many factors needed for securing a path towards adequate housing, including fair rents and affordability, and the Bevan Foundation and many others have always said that increasing the provision of social housing is vital.

So, I am pleased that, as part of the regeneration of Porthcawl, including shops and restaurants that you visited with us over the summer, community parks and toilets, a new primary school—it's a long list—I'm really pleased that, with the help of Welsh Government and Bridgend County Borough Council, land has been secured to ensure that, as part of the planned housing development, there'll be low-carbon housing, up to half of which will be singled out to be affordable, and social housing will be prioritised.

So, Minister, will you join with me in also welcoming this opportunity to reduce pressure on our social housing waiting lists, increase opportunities for young and new home owners to remain in Porthcawl near their families if they would like to, as well as help us meet all of our low-carbon social homes targets for Wales? Diolch. 

Thank you very much, Sarah. I'm absolutely delighted to join you in welcoming the opportunity. Our priority is to deliver more truly affordable homes within the social sector and to deliver 20,000 additional social homes for rent. Working with partners in Bridgend County Borough Council, we're currently seeking a master planning consultancy to design the redevelopment of the wider Porthcawl area in public sector ownership. It really is a very exciting opportunity to deliver significant benefits to the community of Porthcawl. We had a very nice visit there, as I recollect, which I really enjoyed. We acquired the land just after that visit, actually, in 2023 to advance the use for housing. Working with the council, the aim is to obtain a planning permission in 2025 to deliver a mixed-use residential development, which will be around 900 dwellings, with 50 per cent of them being social and affordable. It's ambitious and challenging—we make no apology for that. We will work very closely with the council to make sure that the social housing is prioritised. We've allocated record levels of funding to the social housing grant to achieve this right across Wales, doubling the budget from 2020-21 to £300 million in 2022-23 and to £330 million in the current year, including £30 million for the transitional accommodation programme, and £325 million in 2024-25.

The latest statistical releases show that additional affordable housing of 3,369 affordable units was delivered across Wales, which is a 26 per cent increase on the previous year and the second highest total since the data was first recorded. So, I'm delighted that Bridgend will play a very pivotal part in achieving that target, and I think, actually, in regenerative language, if you like, the whole development is a really good example of what a mixed-use, including residential, development can do to completely transform an area and give local people the very high-quality housing that they both need and deserve, so I'm delighted to welcome that. 

It's great to know about Bridgend; it is on the right track. Minister, Wales is in a housing crisis, with some 100,000 homes completely vacant. Your Government has consistently failed to meet house building targets, currently building less than half the amount of houses needed. You have recently cut £19 million from the empty homes scheme, mounting further pressure on councils to use hotels for temporary accommodation. Concerns have also been raised about the unintended consequences of a vacant land tax, which could hinder new developments. So, Minister, what action will you take to incentivise house building and to bring empty homes back into use to provide people in Wales with homes they desperately need? 

Well, I just simply don't recognise that characterisation. We exceeded our target by a considerable proportion at the end of the last Senedd term, and I've literally just read you the statistics showing us on target for this term, so I just—. Well, I mean it's just, basically, not fact based, what you've just said. So, I'll just read it to you again: the latest statistical release to show progress towards the 20,000 homes target was published on 7 November. The key statistic is that in 2022-23, 3,369 additional affordable housing units were delivered across Wales. This is a 26 per cent increase—693 units—on the previous year and the second highest total since data was ever recorded, which was in 2007-08. I think those facts speak for themselves, Llywydd.