The shocking statistics revealed by a housing provider this week has shed light on just how bad the housing crisis in Wales is right now
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, where the housing crisis in the county is at its worst according to a recent council meeting(Image: WalesOnline/Rob Browne)
More than half of the people on a housing waiting list in a Welsh county are in employment, a county council meeting on the housing crisis has heard. At a council meeting on Thursday Michelle Morgan of Monmouthshire Housing Association told councillors that of the nearly 4,000 people currently on the housing waiting list in Monmouthshire 52% – around 2,000 – are in employment.
She said the issue is there aren’t enough affordable homes being built, with competition so high that for each affordable home that comes up there are on average 98 people bidding online. In a shocking speech to councillors this week she shed light on the almost impossible situation facing young people in Wales today trying to go it alone in the housing market.
The highest demand for affordable housing in Monmouthshire – where average house prices are north of £320,000 – is in Abergavenny, Ms Morgan told councillors, followed by Chepstow, then Caldicot, and then Monmouth. For the biggest stories in Wales first, sign up to our daily newsletter
The council, which is now Labour-led, has been discussing putting affordable homes at the centre of its local development plan strategy since 2018 and that is now expected to become a reality. The council has been consulting on a new local development plan, which targets the building of a lot more affordable housing, since November last year and came together with experts to discuss the 4,000 responses to the consultation this week.
The council’s proposals state that half of all sites allocated for housing be for affordable homes in Monmouthshire including a mix of those available for social rent and shared ownership providing over 1,000 new affordable homes.
The plan marks the first time a Welsh council has ever proposed a 50% affordability requirement on new developments, and homes will also have to be net zero carbon, producing as much heating, lighting and hot water as they use through technology such as solar panels.
Ms Morgan was one of 13 public speakers to address a special Monmouthshire County Council scrutiny session considering 4,000 responses to the consultation launched by the council in November last year on the proposed development plan.
She told: “There are over 3,900 people in housing need on the council waiting list including 203 households accepted as homeless.”
She revealed that 76% of applicants are of working age and 52% of them are employed, with the highest demand in Abergavenny, followed by Chepstow, Caldicot and Monmouth. On average, 98 people bid for each property listed on the Monmouthshire Homesearch website where social tenancies are advertised.
“Housing is out of reach of many working age people,” Ms Morgan said before going on to explain that housing associations in Monmouthshire allocated 423 homes last year with 51% going to homeless households.
The average waiting time for someone in band one, deemed as having the highest level of housing need, exceeds 12 months at the moment – highlighting just how difficult the situation has become for people on the thousands-long list.
Ms Morgan cited the case of a 30-year-old woman from Caldicot, earning £30,000 a year, who can’t afford to move out of the home she shares with her mother and stepfather due to financial constraints. She explained that due to a tense situation at home the woman has applied for social housing but has been categorised as low priority in band three.
Despite making 72 bids for a home she consistently ranks between 50th and 70th place highlighting the almost impossible situation for young people trying to get on the housing ladder, especially if they’re single.
The blueprint has identified locations at Dixton Road Monmouth, territory east of Abergavenny and ground at the David Broome showground at Crick between Portskewett and Caldicot as strategic housing developments, with construction banned on flood-prone areas.
But some speakers said they were concerned about traffic at proposed housing sites at Mounton Road, Chepstow and Dixton Road in Monmouth and raised issues such as air quality and the impact on rare bats.
Jonty Pearce said: “Bats may not have many friends but they have the law and the nature loving people of Monmouthshire who want our wildlife protected.”
Concerns were also raised that the committee’s report pack stretched to 15,000 pages, with Rebecca Cunningham, who opposed a Monmouth housing development, stating: “It would take an average person six months to read, to do that in seven days is impossible.”
Extra advantages mentioned included a park and ride facility in Abergavenny, accommodation and care facility at Mounton Road, Chepstow, a fresh primary school and potential health centre east of Caldicot, with developments positioned within 20 minutes’ walk of town centres whilst providing public green spaces.
Cllr Paul Griffiths, the responsible cabinet member, emphasised that affordable housing remains central to the scheme, with developers required to meet the 50% target. “If they do not achieve it they do not build,” he said.
The committee was informed that it needed to review the responses before the plan is presented to the full council for approval, which will then lead to an independent examination on behalf of the Welsh Government. The planning inspector, who must deem it as “sound” and suitable for adoption as the council’s policy, will consider the comments made and determine if any amendments are necessary.
