Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:06 pm on 5 October 2016.
We’ve got a raft of schemes. The 20,000 model, which I’ll come onto in a second—. I know that David tries to pretend that he doesn’t understand the figures, but I know that the Member is good at this. I will explain them in more detail.
Let me tell you one fundamental fact about the right to buy and what’s actually happened in this sector: the fact is that, as years have passed, the true impact of the right to buy has been seen. Research reveals that a significant proportion of homes sold under the right to buy—more than 40 per cent of those have ended up in the private rented sector, pushing the very rents that the Member suggested were inflating. That’s the very reason why these are unaffordable properties. We must prevent the sale of more social housing and protect social housing stock. [Interruption.] The Member keeps shouting, but these facts are speaking for themselves.
Let’s go to the numbers, which David and his colleagues wish to challenge. I’m grateful for the opportunity to demonstrate our reasoning. The commissioned report that the Member alludes to—again, a very good document—is the Public Policy Institute for Wales’s report, ‘Future Need and Demand for Housing in Wales’, from September 2015. They projected an additional total need of 174,000 homes in the period 2011-31. This would equate to 8,700 per year, of which 5,200—around 60 per cent—will be needed in the market sector, and around 3,500—40 per cent a year—in the social sector, amounting to an additional 70,000 social rented homes over the next 20-year period.
We are clear that our target from last year, which will be—. When the stats are released, I’m confident that we will have made our 10,000 social housing stock in the last term of this Government. The ambitious target of 20,000 now is something that will be contributed by many opportunities and schemes that we’re promoting, but also with the market. Lesley Griffiths and I this morning met the private house builders to talk about planning issues and other aspects of development.
But, let me also remind the Chamber that the majority of the benches opposite, when I was planning Minister, all wrote to me about social housing schemes that they wanted to stop in their communities, so don’t be telling me that we need more houses. You tell me one minute that you want more houses, but you don’t want them near you. [Interruption.]
Let me tell you: we will be legislating on the right to buy in this Chamber—[Interruption.]