The Welsh Government began consultation on its future housing policy. It set out key objectives, including 'dramatically' increasing the number of new homes – both for those who could afford to buy outright through the market and for those who required subsidized housing. New models of housing, such as co-operative housing, would be developed; and new ways of financing housing developments would be found.
Source: Meeting the Housing Challenge: Building a consensus for action, Welsh Government
Links: Consultation document | Welsh Government press release
Date: 2011-Dec
The Welsh Government published a strategy document and Bill designed to promote sustainable development in Wales.
Source: One Wales: One Planet – A Welsh Government Discussion Paper – Sustainable Development Bill, Welsh Government
Links: Strategy | Welsh Government press release
Date: 2011-Dec
A study examined housing policy in Wales. It considered the purpose of social housing in Wales, ways in which homelessness could be prevented, and how an increased supply of sustainable housing could be achieved.
Source: Kathleen Kelly and Tamsin Stirling, Welsh Housing Policy: Where Next?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
The Welsh Government published its annual report highlighting progress against its sustainability commitments. It detailed progress in a number of areas including employment, greenhouse gas emissions, social justice, education, and transport. There had been little change in the percentage of the population in relative low-income households (before housing costs) since 1994-1997.
Source: One Wales: One Planet – The Sustainable Development Annual Report 2010-2011, Welsh Government
Links: Report | Welsh Government press release
Date: 2011-Sep
A report examined the impact of being assessed as intentionally homeless on households in Wales.
Source: Jacqueline Aneen Campbell, The Impact of Intentional Homelessness Decisions on Welsh Households? Lives, Shelter Cymru
Date: 2011-Sep
A report set out a series of recommendations for improving planning for economic development in Wales.
Source: Roger Tym & Partners with Asbri Planning, Planning for Sustainable Economic Renewal, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Report | WAG press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Jun
A report said that people living in rural parts of Wales faced up to 20 per cent higher living costs than in urban areas, the biggest part of which went on transport. Impractical public transport services meant that car dependency was more pronounced in rural areas, and many households felt that they had no choice but to use a car for getting to work, school, shops, and other services – with a disproportionate impact on those on lower incomes.
Source: Making Sustainable Transport Easier for Rural Communities, Sustrans Cymru
Links: Report | Sustrans press release
Date: 2011-Jun
A report said that poor housing cost the National Health Service in Wales around £67 million per year.
Source: Maggie Davidson, Simon Nicol, Mike Roys, and Adele Beaumont, The Cost of Poor Housing in Wales, Shelter Cymru and Building Research Establishment (BRE) Trust
Links: Summary | Shelter press release
Date: 2011-Apr
A report said that the 'vast majority' of the 221,000 homes owned and managed by housing associations and local authorities in Wales would achieve the Welsh housing quality standard by the deadlines given.
Source: Social Landlords Performance in Achieving the Welsh Housing Quality Standard, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Report | WAG press release
Date: 2011-Mar
The Welsh Assembly Government began consultation on proposals for a new national policy for rents set by registered social landlords and local authorities that owned housing stock. The aim was to provide a system that was 'consistent, transparent, and fair'. It proposed setting a national target average rent; and the creation of target rents across 9 types and sizes of home.
Source: A New Policy for Social Housing Rents, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2011-Mar
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the private rented sector was increasingly meeting the needs of those who could not enter social housing, and the growing number of people who could not afford to buy their own home outright. It called on the Welsh Government to promote a positive public image of the sector as a tenure of choice, and to produce a strategy for developing the role of the sector.
Source: Making the Most of the Private Rented Sector in Wales, Communities and Culture Committee, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Feb
An audit report in Wales said that many major transport projects had cost substantially more (and taken longer to complete) than expected, hampering the delivery of the Assembly Government's wider transport objectives.
Source: Major Transport Projects, Wales Audit Office
Links: Report | WAO press release | WAG press release
Date: 2011-Jan
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that English and Welsh planning processes were so different that discrete Welsh legislation was needed to consolidate existing policy and improve systems for Wales. It recommended a new law based on the 'plan-led' approach – where local authorities prepared area-specific development plans that acted as the point of reference for future planning decisions to ensure consistency.
Source: Inquiry into Planning in Wales, Sustainability Committee, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | NAW press release
Date: 2011-Jan
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that it supported, in principle, a proposed new law that would allow the suspension of the 'right to buy' social housing in areas of housing pressure.
Source: Report on the Proposed Housing (Wales) Measure: Stage 1 Report, Legislation Committee No 2, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | NAW press release
Date: 2011-Jan
