A report said that many local authorities in Wales had 'lost their focus' on preventing homelessness. Prevention consisted largely of negotiating with parents and landlords to keep people longer while they waited for social housing. A systematic approach to prevention was not sufficiently ingrained in services.
Source: Andy Gale Consultancy and Jenkins Duval Ltd, Reducing the Use of Bed & Breakfast Accommodation for Homeless Households, Welsh Local Government Association
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Dec
The report was published of a project in Wales that sought to minimize the impact of the 'bedroom tax' on tenants and reduce the rate of tenancy failure, or alternatively to develop innovative approaches to assist tenants affected by the tax. It said that the Welsh Government should undertake a thematic review of the impact of the bedroom tax and the introduction of universal credit on the financial viability and business plans of all social landlords in Wales.
Source: Simon Inkson Ltd, The Bedroom Tax Project – Final Report, Welsh Local Government Association
Links: Report | WLGA press release
Notes: Under United Kingdom benefit changes, housing association and council tenants of working age will have their housing benefits cut from April 2013 if they are deemed to have spare bedrooms.
Date: 2012-Nov
A report said that there was sufficient evidence to recommend that a prevention-focused approach to homelessness ('Housing Solutions') should be introduced in Wales. Verified rough sleepers should be incorporated as a priority need group. The Welsh Government should consider writing into legislation a date on which young people aged 18-24 would be included as a priority need group.
Source: Peter Mackie and Ian Thomas (with Suzanne Fitzpatrick, Tamsin Stirling, Sarah Johnsen, and Simon Hoffman), Assessing the Impacts of Proposed Changes to Homelessness Legislation in Wales, Welsh Government
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Oct
The report of an independent advisory group examined how the planning system in Wales should be delivered in the future. Key recommendations included:
• The need for leadership and, where necessary, intervention by government: this included Welsh ministers taking decisions on nationally significant devolved infrastructure schemes.
• Preparation of a national framework within which local planning authorities delivered local development plans.
• The introduction of a statutory framework for strategic planning at a level above the individual local planning authority. This could accommodate a city region approach to spatial planning.
• The establishment of a planning advisory and improvement body.
Source: Towards a Welsh Planning Act: Ensuring the planning system delivers – Report to the Welsh Government by the Independent Advisory Group, Welsh Government
Links: Report | Welsh Government press release
Date: 2012-Sep
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales set out a series of recommendations designed to improve the quality of social housing in Wales. The Welsh Government should enable the introduction of independent, external verification of landlords' reported compliance with the Welsh housing quality standard.
Source: Progress in Delivering the Welsh Housing Quality Standard, Public Accounts Committee, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | WLGA press release
Date: 2012-Sep
The Welsh Government began consultation on proposals for legislation that would require the mandatory registration and licensing of private landlords, as well as letting and managing agents in the private rented housing sector.
Source: Proposals for a Better Private Rented Sector in Wales, Welsh Government
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2012-Jul
A study examined the services and support that housing associations in Wales provided to tenants, families, and communities over and above basic landlord services; and the overall contribution of housing associations to the broader policy objectives of the Welsh Government.
Source: Housing + Cymru, Housing Associations in Wales: Improving the lives of tenants and communities – A descriptive study, Welsh Government
Date: 2012-Jun
A think-tank report examined the likely impact on Wales of the coalition government's proposal to devolve responsibility for council tax support from 2013-14, and to cut funding for it by 10 per cent. It considered the options available to the Welsh Government. Any cuts to council tax support were bound to hit lower-income households. More aggressive means-testing could protect those in the greatest poverty, but with the result that some people would be worse off after a pay rise. Reforms that saved the full 10 per cent typically involved reducing support for those entitled to maximum support – those with the lowest incomes.
Source: Stuart Adam and James Browne, Reforming Council Tax Benefit: Options for Wales, Briefing Note 129, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Briefing Note | IFS press release | Welsh Government press release | Plaid Cymru press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Jun
The Welsh Government responded to a report by an Assembly Committee on the provision of affordable housing. It said that it accepted all the recommendations made.
Source: Response from the Welsh Government to the Report of the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee: Inquiry into the Provision of Affordable Housing in Wales, Welsh Government
Links: Response
Notes: AM report (March 2012)
Date: 2012-Jun
A study examined the views of past and present users of homelessness services in Wales. It identified a culture of distrust, too much bureaucracy, a lack of compassion and respect, and a system focused on 'ticking the right boxes' rather than helping people.
Source: Jacqueline Aneen Campbell (with Jennie Bibbings), Citizen Engagement on Welsh Homelessness Services and Legislation, Shelter Cymru
Links: Report | Shelter press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-May
The Welsh Government published a White Paper on housing. It included measures designed to tackle homelessness (ending family homelessness by 2019), improve conditions in the private rented sector, deliver more homes, and introduce tenancy reform.
Source: Homes for Wales: A White Paper for better lives and communities, Welsh Government
Links: White Paper | Welsh Government press release | Age Cymru press release | CIH press release | Consumer Focus press release | NLA press release | Shelter press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2012-May
A report by a committee of the National Assembly for Wales said that the Welsh Government should conduct an evaluation of its national housing strategy, to ensure that it was still fit for purpose, given the significant changes in the political, economic, and financial climate since it had first been published.
Source: Inquiry Into the Provision of Affordable Housing in Wales, Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee, National Assembly for Wales
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2012-Apr
An audit report in Wales said that many social housing tenants had seen big improvements to the quality of their housing: but the Welsh Government's original aim that all social housing would achieve the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) by the end of 2012 would not be met 'for some considerable time'.
Source: Progress in Delivering the Welsh Housing Quality Standard, Wales Audit Office
Links: Report | WAO press release | BBC report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Jan
