, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
The biggest problem that we have at the moment in building the homes that we want is the global market situation. So, as I described at the beginning, the price inflation has been pretty awful, and that's the case for social, so about 30 to 35 per cent extra…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
So, it is exactly as I said at the beginning. It's about building sustainable communities, isn't it? So, absolutely, second homes are not an issue right across Wales. And, in fact, in Cardiff, they're very much welcome, because much of the city's strategy is…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Yes. Fine. If that exists, I can easily share it with the committee.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
So, I can't guarantee that, obviously, Mabon, but what we're trying to do is put a number of policy levers in place that make sure that we do the best we can in those circumstances. You'll know the range of things that we're looking at. So, we're looking at…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Thanks, Mabon. So, the whole issue of gazumping and so on, unfortunately, isn't one of the powers the Welsh Government has. If I had the power to change the way that conveyancing is done in Wales I absolutely would, because the whole issue around at what…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Absolutely, Mabon, and, as I was saying, anything that is a single tenure is not a sustainable community. And I can give you an example from my own constituency where I have road after road of student HMOs and absolutely nobody else living there. The students…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Well, I think I know what it means; I just don't know how to measure it, and I think those are two different things.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Yes, and we have objectives around ending homelessness, for example. We haven't developed a—. I don't even know how to begin to do that, if I'm honest. I'm not averse to it and I'd be very happy to work with the committee, but I don't even know what that…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
No, we have objectives around how many houses we want to build—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
No, it's not just about affordability. I grew up in a north Swansea council estate, which is widely regarded as a lovely place to live, because it has big, green open spaces, lovely spacious housing, and it's a close-knit community. So, those community things…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
It's invidious to do that, isn't it? But there are plenty of places that appear in lists of 'The best place to live in', and all those—
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
There are many across Wales that are sustainable communities, and they tend to be a good mix.
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
What we're trying to do is, by a suite of measures, including house building, but also all of 'Future Wales', 'Planning Policy Wales', and so on, force a planned system into place that makes our communities sustainable, so they're good, mixed communities. We…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Well, that's a really good question, isn't it? We haven't got formal results based like that, but my automatic gut response to that is, 'When I don't have 10,000 people in temporary accommodation.'
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Yes, very important indeed. I had a very good discussion with the commissioner and, indeed, the late Aled Roberts, just before Christmas, where we had a wide-ranging discussion about what needed to be done in particular communities. So, my colleague Jeremy…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Yes, indeed. Again, we've got a system called 'Lle', which maps out where the land is available. We've also been working with local authorities to make sure that their land is available. Very specifically, though, we've been working with them to make sure…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
That's a really interesting one, isn't it? We can see already the effects of global changes. On the 20,000 low-carbon social homes, for example, we knew that was an ambitious target. I know that people think we should build more than that and so on, but…
, Local Government and Housing Committee
Inquiry into second homes: evidence session 9—Minister for Climate Change
Thank you very much, Chair. It's very nice to be here in person after a long absence on the old Zoom there. That's a big question that you asked there to start off with, and I could happily talk for an hour on it, but I'll just do some headlines and then…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2
Thank you.
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2
Thank you very much, Joyce. I know you've been campaigning on this issue for as long as I've known you, so it's nice to see you still coming to the bat, or whatever the sporting analogy is for that. Yes, absolutely; one of the things we were able to do with…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2
I completely agree, Jenny. In terms of the new builds, of course, we will be bringing part L regulation changes through very shortly. We've already changed what's called the DQL for new-build social to carbon passive or carbon neutral, so again, incentivising…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2
Thank you, Mike. I know you share my enthusiasm for social housing. We were brought up not too far away from each other, as it happens, and I've always admired your zeal and enthusiasm for really good social housing. Absolutely, this is an anti-poverty…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2
We're also very keen on things like access to green space. So, even if you are in an apartment, you should still have access to green space outside. We're looking at encouraging all social landlords—councils and housing associations—to ensure access to green…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2
Diolch yn fawr, Mabon. And thank you very much for your comments at the beginning in particular. You make a whole series of very good points, and one of the reasons we're going out for the consultation is to just tease out some of these things. Just in terms…
, Plenary
Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Welsh Housing Quality Standard 2
Well, thank you very much, Janet. You raise a few very interesting points and some points of principle. So, just in terms of the points of principle, we clearly are facing a climate challenge. You will have seen the most recent report saying that we're…
