The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on a 10-year plan to help homeless people in Wales. The aim of the plan was to prevent people becoming homeless in the first place, and to offer easier access to housing advice.
Source: Ten Year Homelessness Plan: Consultation draft, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Consultation document | BBC report
Date: 2008-Nov
A report examined the barriers to the take-up in Wales of council tax benefit and housing benefit. It highlighted best practice, based on the experience of the local authorities that had successfully increased take-up in recent years.
Source: Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit: Barriers to Take-up in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | WAG press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A study found that the natural environment – including allotments, urban parks, woodland, lakes, mountains, rivers, and the sea – could play a key role in improving public health and well-being.
Source: Pat Davies and Jenny Deaville, Natural Heritage: A Pathway to Health, Countryside Council for Wales (0845 1306 229)
Links: Report | CCW press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A report called for a huge increase in affordable housing supply in rural Wales. There was an increasing unmet housing need in rural Wales: homes were getting more expensive; more people were homeless; and there was even less social housing in rural areas than in towns and cities.
Source: JRF Commission on Rural Housing in Wales: Final Report, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | Findings | JRF press release | CIH press release | CHC press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report (the 'Essex Report') examined the barriers and opportunities presented by the Assembly Government's priority to deliver significantly more affordable homes in Wales by 2011. It said that the existing regime for generating affordable housing was no longer 'fit for purpose'.
Source: Affordable Housing Task and Finish Group, Report to the Deputy Minister for Housing, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | CIH press release | BBC report
Date: 2008-Jun
