Housing associations call for greater support for North Wales residents facing cost of living pressures
Housing associations in North Wales and Community Housing Cymru have called on Welsh Government for increased investment for social and affordable homes and wider financial support to help tenants deal with the increasing food and energy costs and sustaining long term tenancies.
Speaking at the Plaid Cymru conference in Llandudno today (Friday, October 2) Grŵp Cynefin, Adra, Cartrefi Conwy, ClwydAlyn and North Wales Housing teamed up with Community Housing Cymru to highlight the increasing pressures facing many tenants and the vital support being provided to help people manage household costs, improve financial resilience and maintain their wellbeing.
Mel Evans, Chief Executive of Grŵp Cynefin; Iwan Trefor Jones, Chief Executive of Adra; Adrian Johnson, Chief Executive of Cartrefi Conwy; Clare Budden, Chief Executive of ClwydAlyn and Helena Kirk, Chief Executive of North Wales Housing said:
“Social housing is a growing sector in North Wales and together, we provide 26,500 homes across the region for 56,000 people.
“Over the past three years, we have invested £510 million in building 1,850 safe, warm and affordable social homes in our communities, to meet increasing demands. We’ve also invested in our current homes to the tune of £256 million.
“But our role goes well above simply bricks and mortar. Good housing is the catalyst for a number of key priority areas, including health, education, social care, economy and the Welsh language.
“At the heart of our work is supporting tenants to deal with issues such as the cost of living, health and wellbeing, and providing opportunities to help our tenants to thrive through training and employment opportunities.
“The conference was a great opportunity to raise awareness of this valuable work and demonstrate how we make a difference to people’s lives every day, but to continue doing that requires greater funding and a longer-term strategy for supporting housing”.
Community Housing Cymru’s Deputy CEO Clarissa Corbisiero said:
“This joint session at Plaid Party Conference demonstrates how determined and united our sector is to take action itself to reduce the pressures of rising costs on tenants across Wales.
“However, housing associations alone cannot fully offset wider pressures on household incomes arising from including high food and energy costs, debt, and low wages, and there is growing concern for tenants’ welfare ahead of winter.
“Both Welsh and UK governments must strengthen household incomes and the social safety net, including improvements to Universal Credit, the Discretionary Assistance Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments.
“This must be accompanied by increased investment to increase the amount of social housing available. We can build the homes Wales needs and turn the housing recovery into reality, giving more people the security of a safe place to call home.”
For further information, contact
Mari Williams, Communications and Marketing Manager, Grŵp Cynefin
07970142305