How Wrexham candidates would resolve housing issues

Candidates looking for your support have been invited to share their views on a range of issues.

As part of our election coverage ahead of the poll on Thursday we asked all candidates a range of questions, with a theme based collection from all candidates below. You can also read individual answers to all the questions here on our Election 24 page, plus links to party manifesto, supplied bios for candidates and links to find out where exactly your polling station is!

Question: Social housing waiting lists are high, private home ownership is more and more unattainable with people in their 20s and 30s still living at home with their parents. In your view, how can this be resolved?

This is a long term and complex problem, and it needs to be addressed with urgency. In simple terms, the Green Party approach is stop thinking of houses as assets, and to start thinking of housing as homes.

Part of the current problem is a lack of housing; and part is a lack of earning for young people.

On housing – The Green Party plan to build 150,000 new social homes a year; and make sure that all homes, new and old, are supported to be more environmentally efficient making them cheaper to run. And also, crucially, The Green Party would end the Right To Buy, meaning that social housing remains belonging to the community rather than investors.

On earning for younger people – The Green Party propose raising minimum wage to £15 an hour. The Green Party would extend that minimum wage to 16, ending the ageist system we currently have whereby younger workers can be paid less than older adults doing the same work.

In short, The Green Party believe in fairness have a plan to achieve it.

The Lib Dems are committed to building the homes people need, with meaningful community engagement, by increasing building of new homes to 380,000 a year across the UK, including 150,000 social homes a year. We’d also give local councils the powers to end right-to-buy, so that we don’t lose any more of social housing we already have.

We plan to deliver a fair deal for renters by immediately banning no-fault evictions, making three-year tenancies the default, and creating a national register of licensed landlords. Finally, we’d abolish residential leaseholds and cap ground rents to a nominal fee, so that everyone has control over their property.

Everyone should have a place called home with access to warm, good quality housing in their local communities – whether they are renting or buying. Welsh Labour is investing in social housing and will deliver 20,000 new homes for social rent by 2026, with all new builds being carbon neutral. This builds on the successful delivery of more than 20,000 affordable homes over the previous Senedd term. For those that wish to buy then the Help to Buy scheme helps people buy a house with a low deposit and an interest free loan to cover part of the purchase price. Local authorities need to identify affordable housing led sites where at least 50% of the housing is truly affordable. Along with building the homes that people need in Wrexham we must also ensure the delivery of sustainable, thriving communities working in harmony with the natural environment and placing the emphasis on both green and traditional infrastructure.

Social housing is so badly needed here in Wrexham. We have 4000 people on the waiting list and no plan to provide for them. Instead there are currently plans for more 3000 houses to be built with minimal “affordable” housing. These houses are, in the main, 3 and 4-bed executive houses with price tags upwards of £300,000. These are just unaffordable on an average wage in Wrexham which is why Plaid Cymru locally are opposing them – we need house building to be for local need not for developers’ greed. They will build to maximise profits and we need to build the affordable and social housing we so badly need.
We need more focus on truly affordable housing for the residents of Wrexham with an additional focus on creating more social housing. We should be utilising derelict land and bringing empty properties back into use by renovating them and converting them to fit local needs.

No response to our Q&A has been received.

Again, Housing is a DEVOLVED issue and is managed by the Welsh LABOUR Government in Cardiff. With thousands of people on Wrexham Council’s housing waiting list, availability of housing is a major problem. Labour’s Rent Smart Wales has imposed restrictions on landlords, which in Wrexham has meant many landlords have sold-up, reducing housing availability and increasing rents – yet another Labour policy that has backfired.

I’ve lobbied hard against Welsh Labour on their phosphate policy, which saw all building cease in Wrexham for over 2 years. However, Labour’s response to yet another own goal was to impose the Local Development Plan, which isn’t fit for purpose. It will see 8,000 houses built, on green fields, in Wrexham, without having the necessary infrastructure – doctors, schools, roads, flood prevention in place first. Whilst more housing is needed having sufficient infrastructure in place is essential. Perhaps most importantly, people need to be able to afford to buy new homes, and the Conservatives have pledged to implement a new Help to Buy scheme in addition to the existing Mortgage Guarantee Scheme.

Build more social and private affordable houses.

You can read more Q&A answers here on our Election 24 page along with more election information – remember to GO VOTE ON THURSDAY!

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