North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has described Welsh Labour’s intention to abolish the Council House ‘Right to Buy’ in Wales as “poor housing economics”.
Speaking in yesterday’s Assembly Debate ‘Stage 3 of the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Bill’, Mr Isherwood said abolishing Right to Buy will do nothing to tackle the housing crisis facing Wales, and that “it's simply adding to the betrayal over housing in the previous terms of this Assembly”.
He said:
“The primary reason we have a shortage of social housing is because, without going back over prehistory, the Welsh Governments in the first three Assembly terms took the decision to give it low priority in their funding, and they cut the supply of new social housing over 12 years by over 70 per cent.
“There were warnings from the sector, from the commercial through to the charitable sector, that this would happen. Each time I, often supported by Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats in those days, put down a motion highlighting the warnings of a Welsh housing crisis, the response from the Welsh Government wasn't to respond to the substantive concerns raised by the housing sector, but it was to put down an amendment removing the term 'Welsh housing crisis'. That was a betrayal. That is the primary reason we're here today.
“There's an element of catch-up now, but, sadly, still, the numbers of social homes being provided are massively below levels required. There's some masking going on with the use of the term 'affordable housing', but we know that that includes intermediate rent, low-cost home ownership and anything else that can be added in to help the Welsh Government deliver a target that is still massively below the levels that successive independent reports have told us we need.
“We know, from independent research, that the average council house tenant resident in their home today will stay in that home for another 15 years. So, the impact on increasing supply for people on waiting lists, or people in housing crisis, will be negligible. But since 2012 in England, and since 2012 with devolved powers to Welsh Ministers, there's been the opportunity to use the proceeds of Right to Buy sales to build new social houses—council houses—and take some people off the housing waiting list, which this proposal will not achieve.
“With David Melding's amendments (to remove the suspensions of the Right to Buy and associated rights in the areas that are currently designated as suspended under the Housing (Wales) Measure 2011 (Cardiff, Anglesey, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Flintshire and Denbighshire) allowing qualifying tenants in those areas to exercise their rights like any other qualifying tenants across Wales, up until the abolition comes into effect), at least some money could be realised to build some new social housing and take some people off the housing waiting lists in volumes that the alternative you're proposing couldn't even dream to achieve. You are biting off your nose to spite your face. It's poor housing economics, and, unfortunately, it's simply adding to the betrayal over housing in the previous terms of this Assembly.”
Labour and Plaid Cymru voted down the amendments tabled by Shadow Housing Secretary David Melding AM.