Cymdeithas
yr Iaith's response to the Local Government and Housing Committee's
inquiry into the Right to Adequate Housing
Cymdeithas
yr Iaith is an organisation that campaigns non-violently for the
Welsh language and all communities in Wales.
It
should be a core principle that everyone has a home, but the
unfairness of the housing system as it is means that property is
treated as an asset rather than a home, which has led to a
situation where some people have several homes while others have
none.
Treating
housing as an asset to use to make a profit rather than as a home
means that the housing market pushes house prices up, beyond the
reach of people on local salaries - to such an extent that house
prices are, on average, ten times higher than the average salary in
Ceredigion.
The
high price of housing means that people on local salaries,
especially young people, cannot afford to rent or buy a home and
therefore cannot stay in their community. This has an impact on the
Welsh language, culture, the viability of communities, the local
economy and the provision of public services, particularly Welsh
provision in the public sector.
The
new practice of working from home and people's desire,
post-pandemic, to live in open, rural areas has intensified housing
problems.
Although
house prices are high in comparison to salaries, house prices are
lower in Wales than in the other countries of the United Kingdom,
and wealthy people have taken advantage of that, by buying a second
house or a home for occasional use in Wales.
Therefore,
if we are serious about ensuring the continuation of Welsh as a
living community language, we must reject this philosophy of free
market capitalism which has been embraced by every Westminster
Government since the days of Margaret Thatcher.
We believe that
the housing system needs to be transformed and that the following
is needed:
1.
Securing the
Right to a Home Locally
2.
Planning for
Local Needs
3.
Empowering
Communities
4.
Prioritisation of
Local People
5.
Control of the
Rental Sector
6.
Sustainable
Homes
7.
Investment in
Communities
Securing the
Right to a Home Locally
There
should be a duty on all Local Authorities to meet the housing needs
of their area. Their main functions focus on developing and
implementing a housing strategy, allocating existing social housing
(the stock of the Authority and housing associations), homelessness
prevention services, providing housing advice and developing new
social and affordable homes in partnership with housing
associations.
Local
authorities should be far more proactive in identifying the needs
and circumstances of local people, and identifying and facilitating
suitable individual solutions.
Depending on
individual needs, suitable solutions may include:
i.
social rented housing (subsidised provision for those that cannot
afford to rent or buy a home due to low or unstable income, or that
are vulnerable due to health problems, disability or other special
needs)
ii.
intermediate
market housing (provision which is subsidised to make it affordable
for those on a fixed income but unable to afford to rent or buy on
the open market - eg part-ownership or shared equity
models)
iii.
local
market housing (provision available to local people at a reduced
price through planning conditions, eg a section 106
agreement)
When
a community housing provider (the local authority, housing
association or community-owned enterprise) does not have a suitable
home in the local area for the applicant, the Local Authority
should be resourceful in facilitating a bespoke local solution
within a reasonable distance and timetable such as:
i.
A community housing provider to receive a subsidy in order to buy a
property on the open market, or to develop a new home, and let it
for social or intermediate rent.
ii.
A
community housing provider to receive a subsidy for the purchase of
a property on the open market, or to develop a new home, jointly
with the applicant (part-ownership model).
iii.
The
applicant to receive a subsidy in the form of an equity loan to
purchase a suitable property on the open market or to develop a new
home.
All
community housing providers should offer a 'step-up, step-down'
option which would enable the applicant to remain in the home were
their economic situation or personal circumstances to change, for
worse or for better (eg moving from a part-ownership arrangement to
an intermediate rent or from social rent terms to a shared equity
arrangement).
There
is also a need to be open and flexible in providing solutions by
working across Local Authority boundaries, so any measures need to
enable and encourage that.
Planning for
Local Needs
In
order to facilitate and enable local authorities to secure a home,
it is necessary to plan for this. We therefore propose that the
Local Housing Market Assessment be replaced with a Local Housing
Market Assessment and that Local Authorities should co-produce a
regular Community Assessment in all areas of the county, with
communities as equal partners.
Such
an assessment would be a means of planning appropriate housing
solutions for all communities, identifying local opportunities to
meet the need and then presenting the case for investing public
funds.
It
would also provide a 'genuine' evidence base for the preparation of
Local Development Plans and Housing Strategies which would, in
turn, ensure that local needs inform land use policies, affordable
housing targets and priorities for investment in new
homes.
Each
local authority's Housing Strategy should predict the number of
homes to be provided for each community where local needs have been
identified, and provide an investment programme of specific
projects to be commissioned that would meet those needs. No project
should be included in the programme without evidence of local
need.
There
are excellent examples from counties in north-west and south-west
Wales where Rural Housing Facilitators use a variety of approaches
to identify existing local needs, usually in collaboration with the
community councils and community groups. This local evidence is
essential in order to receive planning permission for affordable
housing on exempt sites, which prioritises local people, and for
housing associations to receive a Social Housing Grant towards the
development costs.
Empowering and
Investing in Communities
By
strengthening the rights of community-led organisations to buy and
manage housing, land and key community assets, we will empower
communities.
This
is nothing new: there is a tradition of Welsh communities buying,
developing and managing local assets in order to provide essential
services such as pubs, community shops and renewable energy
projects. Nevertheless, there are few current examples of
community-led housing initiatives.
This
is partly because, currently, community groups that want access to
land and property are completely dependent on the transfer of
community assets from public bodies or on philanthropic landowners.
Local communities can be at a disadvantage when a landowner
(private or public) decides to sell a piece of land or a building
that could be used for affordable housing: mainly due to the
owner's desire to sell as quickly as possible on the open
market.
In
Scotland, and to some extent in England, policies exist to enable
land and assets to be transferred to community ownership, which
sets useful precedents with a view to increasing the power that
communities in Wales have.
In
England, there is a Community Right to Bid. Local groups have the
right to nominate a building or other land to be listed by the
local authority as an asset of community value. Once an asset is
listed, the owner will only be able to dispose of the asset after a
certain period has expired. If a community group applies to be
treated as a potential bidder, then a full six month moratorium
will apply. During this period, the owner may continue to market
and negotiate sales, but may not exchange contracts.
In
Scotland, the Community Right to Buy policy enables communities
that register a community interest in land and property to have the
first option to buy when the land or property is offered for sale.
Community bodies can register an interest in any land, such as
churches, pubs, estates, empty shops, woodland, fields and more. A
registered interest in land lasts for five years. Any land or
building purchased must be able to provide a level of income that
ensures that it does not become a liability for the community in
the long term.
Also,
community and co-operative housing initiatives face a significant
challenge in raising funds for the purchase of land and property
and for the development of genuinely affordable housing. Due to the
significant costs associated with providing affordable homes,
community and co-operative housing initiatives will need access to
additional financial support. The inexperience or lack of assets of
any new enterprise could prevent them from accessing commercial
loans. Therefore, Local Authorities and the Welsh Government should
offer financial support in the form of grants, equity investment
and low-interest loans.
The
Welsh Government should establish a fund similar to the Scottish
Land Fund, which finances the purchase of land and buildings that
would contribute to the overall sustainability of a community or
enable the retention or provision of key local services. The
Scottish Land Fund can support the purchase of many types of land
and buildings ranging from large estates and forestry to community
shops and hubs. Any land or building purchased must be able to
provide a level of income that ensures that it does not become a
liability for the community in the long term.
The
Scottish Government has currently committed £20 million a
year to the Fund by the end of this parliamentary term.
Levels
of locally-generated investment are an important indicator of local
support and capacity. As a minimum, 5% of the funding should come
from other sources including the fundraising efforts of the
community group, community shares, negotiated price discounts, or
other funders.
The
establishment of a community bank in Wales, Banc Cambria, will be a
unique opportunity to facilitate local investment in community
assets. The Welsh Government should work with Banc Cambria to
develop a low-interest loan fund for local people and community-led
housing initiatives. The fund would exist specifically for
financing the costs of buying, improving or building affordable
housing and other community resources.
These
public and private funds will be essential if community initiatives
are to realise the opportunities that will be created by the
introduction of policies similar to the Community Right to
Buy.
We
believe that such models should be emulated and put in place in
Wales. As well as offering community solutions to housing problems,
it gives people a sense of belonging and ownership over their
community.
Prioritisation of
Local People
In
areas where a Community Assessment shows unmet local housing needs,
local people should be given the first opportunity to buy property
that comes on the market in that community. In practice, the seller
(individual, private organisation or public body) would be required
to advertise it locally for up to six months. During this period,
there would be a moratorium on the sale of the property to anyone
without a local connection while the seller considers offers from
local individuals and community housing providers. The seller would
be required to accept an offer to purchase from a local applicant
or community provider that is equal to or above an independent
valuation of the property.
Local
authority housing investment programmes should allocate sufficient
subsidy, in the form of grants and loans, to enable local
applicants and community housing providers to exchange contracts
before the end of the moratorium period. In addition, if the
property is purchased by a
community
housing provider, it should be a condition of grant to implement a
lettings policy which prioritises local people as long as the
Community Assessment continues to show unmet local
needs.
Control of the
Rental Sector
There
are growing concerns about the affordability of rents, about the
circumstances and rights of tenants, and about the shortage of
houses available to rent.
There
is an increasing number of cases where people are evicted from a
rental home for no reason, in order for landlords to use the
property as an AirBnB or similar to make more profit.
Changes
in the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which came into force from
the 1st of December 2022, have also led to an increase in the
number of those that have been evicted from their homes.
In
addition, local authorities do not hold landlords to account
sufficiently, despite requests for support to force landlords to
improve the standard of accommodation. This suggests that the laws
and arrangements for landlords' liability are not easy or quick to
use, so there is a need to increase and strengthen measures that
local authorities can put in place to regulate the rental
sector.
We
also believe that private landlord and community landlord rents
need to be controlled to ensure that they are affordable for
tenants on lower than median incomes and that landlords need to be
held to account.
We
are proposing all these things as a package of measures to be
included in a Property Act, as one thing by itself will not fully
address the problem. But together, we are confident that they will
be beneficial and ensure that everyone has a home.
Our
main concern in introducing any new measures to ensure the right to
an adequate home for all is that there will be opposition to
any new regulations from landlords and organisations that represent
them. The Welsh Government and local authorities should remain firm
on the principle that housing is a fundamental right for the
benefit of people rather than an asset for the benefit of the
market.
Further
information about our
proposals
for a Property Act can be seen here.
Sustainable
Communities Group, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, March
2023