6. Will the Cabinet Secretary outline how he intends to increase incentives in the private sector to build more homes in Wales? (OAQ51043) [W]

I thank the Member for her question. Through Help to Buy Wales, the House Builders Engagement Programme and the Wales property development fund, we work closely with the sector to make Wales an attractive place for private developers to build. I will be making an announcement tomorrow about additional support for home builders and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Well, that’s very good news, and I just hope that, in responding tomorrow, you will take on board the points made by the Federation of Master Builders, who have suggested that there is a lack of available small sites and a shortage of finance, which precludes small and medium-sized businesses from increasing their delivery of new homes. I just wondered, on top of your announcement tomorrow, whether you have been working with your other Cabinet Secretaries to make sure that there is an all-departmental approach to what is, I think, a very serious problem.

Lesley Griffiths and I meet the Home Builders Federation on a regular basis. We’ve got a meeting very shortly. The Member will have to wait for the details of the scheme, but I hope, when she reads the announcement, she will be encouraged by the content.

I commend Eluned Morgan’s point about the need for more SME builders, as a crucial sector that, in previous decades, provided for a lot of growth. One thing you could do is copy the scheme in England whereby local authorities have their Treasury grant increased by the value of the increase in council tax that comes with new house building. That would be a great incentive.

I think what would be really useful to the Welsh Government is to have a lift of the borrowing cap on local authorities, which would allow local authorities and others to invest with SMEs to build more properties for our communities, but it’s just a Treasury rule that needs addressing.