22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
Sure, and I've not got anything against that, I'm just saying, we were talking—. In terms of the target we're failing to meet, those seem to be secondary issues—
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
That's still quite a small-scale solution there, isn't it?
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
[Inaudible.]—delivery charges, because, as we've discussed, we don't expect the market, by itself, to be able to meet our need, and that requires public sector and third sector involvement. Just in terms of the barriers there, as you mentioned earlier, the…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
Okay. Can I just—
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
But if we had that excess funding, we'd be producing more social housing in the first place, wouldn't we? Those are the realities of what policy makers are engaging with. Can I just move us on—
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
But isn't that the problem in pursuing targets, and Wendy's suggestion we should increase the target? When the underlying conditions are not favourable, that's simply going to result in suboptimal paths being followed.
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
But isn't that an unintended consequence?
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
But in the here and now, have you observed any unintended consequences of trying to meet the target, given the underlying conditions—the unit cost, for example, of each social home having doubled—so that it's not going to be achievable within budgets? Have…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 2
I just want to stick on that target question for a second, because, Wendy, you said that you thought the target needs to be more ambitious, even though you acknowledge the target is unlikely to be met. So, I'm just wondering—and there is a perennial debate on…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
I agree with you that that's what we should be aiming towards, but that's not where we are, and the reality of austerity-hit local authorities and a very risk-averse culture within local authorities is that they often don't feel that they have the energy for…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
It is used to challenge CPOs.
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Well, it is used to challenge CPOs.
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
And that sounds desirable. The reality is that is not the current position and so authorities would be liable to challenge under European human rights and probably lose, and so, 'Let's give it a try' is sort of—forgive me for saying this in a pejorative…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Well, they're linked, aren't they?
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Can I just make a general point? Toby mentioned earlier that Welsh Government, local authorities, should be far more willing to compulsorily purchase land. Put aside the fact that they've lost a lot of the skills able to do that, that is not without risk…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Sure, but do you have any thoughts on my specific example of TfW and the development of the metro and its potential?
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
It's just a quick follow up to you, Dr Shepherd, if I could, as we've got you and you do have expertise in land value capture. Just a question I raised earlier about the potential of TfW to leverage its role, because, obviously, as the metro kicks in, you're…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Thank you.
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
That doesn't stop us.
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
I'm going to ask about something that came up in the evidence. The Bevan Foundation, in its evidence, is raising some concerns about the reliance on the intermediate rental option—so-called 'affordable rent', which, in practice, in many places, is not what it…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Thank you. Would any of the others—? Sorry, Chair, I'm taking over your job here.
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Sorry, I don’t know if you can hear me trying to interrupt. I just want to press you further on that. I’m intrigued by that notion of the joint spin-off company with TfL. Do you think that the land authority—sorry, that was a slip; it used to be called the…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
No, I don’t think it is. So, part of the original vision for the metro that Mark Barry argued for 10, 15 years ago was about leveraging those additional land values that would go up next to metros, and TfW should have a role in exploiting that, and I don’t…
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
Can I just press you a bit on that? Sorry, I thought you were praising TfW for some innovation of looking at how it could leverage the land along the metro rather than just building the trains.
22 Mai 2024 , Local Government and Housing Committee
Cyflenwad tai cymdeithasol: Sesiwn dystiolaeth 1
And could you say more about the TfW example you cited earlier?
