Plaid Cymru Caerphilly Together, We Can Build a Brighter Future

The Welsh Government has been accused of failing to understand the plight of homeless people desperate for a  new council home.

Senedd Member Delyth Jewell raised concerns by Councillor Lindsay Whittle, Caerphilly Plaid Cymru group leader, about the impact of the new Welsh Housing Quality Standard with Minister Jayne Bryant.

In response, the Minister said: “The new Welsh Housing Quality Standard has been introduced in a pragmatic way that allows all social landlords to work towards compliance. The new standard also provides flexibility for social landlords to classify social homes as a conditional pass, when it is physically or not practicable for that home to fully comply with the standard.”

But Councillor Lindsay Whittle, a former social housing manager, was far from impressed with the response.

Lindsay Whittle said:  “It really does not go any way to answer the serious questions about the inevitable delay in re-letting property. It abysmally fails to understand the plight of the homeless who have to live in intolerable conditions at hostels and B&Bs.

“Even those in hotels only have a bedroom with no cooking facilities whatsoever. Try getting by with children there.

“Ironically these people every day pass empty homes for months on end that cannot be let because, for instance, the walls have not been painted or the floor needs replacement, regardless of how good it is.

“From my 26 years’ experience of housing I know that desperate people will accept the place they can call home as long as it’s habitable. They will wait for repairs. They will paint it themselves anyway. They will make it their home to their standards as opposed to sleeping on a sofa at friends or in a hotel bedroom with children.

“Getting a reality grip on life is my call to the civil servants and Ministers who draw up  and approve housing standards with little thought for what is happening in the real world.

“If Caerphilly’s experience is repeated throughout Wales then literally millions of pounds of public money is being wasted. We are in a crisis not a land of milk and honey where hens lay soft boiled eggs!”

He said that under the new housing standard the Welsh Government requires further works under the standard to include items like the replacement of floors, total redecoration and, in some cases, replacing newish kitchens and bathrooms. But had to be seen against a background of so many empty council houses waiting for the work to be carried out while vulnerable people are desperate for a roof under their heads.

Senedd Member Delyth Jewell said:  “A warm, safe home should be a right and not a privilege - and public bodies should be working together to make sure we have more high-quality social housing in areas like Caerphilly.  It's regrettable that we're seeing these avoidable delays before people can access adequate housing - because those delays are condemning vulnerable people to sofa surfing and insecure accommodation.  I have already raised this with the Welsh Government and will continue to campaign with Plaid Cymru councillors and activists in Caerphilly.”

• A Freedom of Information request by fellow Plaid councillor Greg Ead found it took an average of 218 days to rent out an empty house in Caerphilly – well over SIX months. And on December 13^th last year a total of 358 homes were vacant