Where next for Welsh Housing Policy?
By most measures housing in Wales faces a crisis, with new housing building at its lowest level since the Second World War, homelessness and repossessions on the increase, and homes unaffordable for many. Victoria Winckler, Bevan Foundation Director, has responded to the challenges facing the Welsh Government, social landlords and households in an article published in the January 2012 issue of Welsh Housing Quarterly. Writing alongside former Welsh Government Minister Sue Essex, Victoria urges a thought-through rather than knee-jerk reaction to the problems, with particular attention being paid to housing demand. This may well require innovative solutions particularly to raise enough finance, and both Victoria and Sue highlight options such as local authorities using their borrowing powers. Victoria concludes by saying ‘it was out of very similar pressures that the post-war housing acts revolutionised housing for half a century – the proposed Welsh housing bill could, with imagination, achieve the same revolution in the next half century.
For more information about Welsh Housing Quarterly visit http://www.whq.org.uk/main/
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