1. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on how planning policy considers the local market in permitting housing developments? OAQ52146

Diolch. Local planning authorities need to have a clear understanding of the factors influencing housing requirements in their area. Their latest local housing market assessment should form a key piece of their local development plans evidence base and cover the whole housing market by considering the requirement for both market and affordable housing.

We are facing a shortage of housing, but, simultaneously, there are parts of Wales, including my constituency, where a substantial number of homes are second homes or holiday homes. The figure is one in 10 of all homes on the whole of Anglesey, and over 40 per cent of the homes in Rhosneigr, for example, are vacant or are holiday homes. I can refer you to a recent development, which would have been described as affordable housing, where a local councillor tells me that five of the six homes have been sold as holiday homes; there’s only one that has a full-time resident. I was also shown a former council house that is now a holiday home. So, what hope is there in such circumstances for our young people?

In St Ives in Cornwall, a decision was taken some years ago to introduce a planning system to place restrictions on the sale of new homes to people who could prove that that would be their main residence, and 83 per cent of people in a referendum supported the change. Now, there are measures under the new local development plan for Gwynedd and Anglesey that emulate that partly, but, whilst the premium on the land transaction tax on second homes and the higher level of council tax represent efforts to respond to this pressure on the housing market, how far are you, as Minister, willing to go in order to see us try and create a planning system that truly protects the interests of our communities in order to meet the real housing needs on a local level?

That's not something I have considered in my discussions with my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Finance around the LTT. I'm very aware of the Gwynedd and Anglesey LDP, which was obviously prepared in accordance with all the statutory procedures. It's something that I will certainly have a look at. You mentioned, I think, Cornwall, and I'd be very interested to have a look at what they've done. 

In 2015, despite the fact that 79 per cent of local authorities in Wales resisted amendments to TAN 1, your Government pursued a policy that fundamentally skews the way in which housing land supply and availability is calculated from past build rates to a residual method. This is having a profound effect across Wales. In Aberconwy, for instance, what was an 8.5-year supply has now diminished to 3.1 years. Yet, there is no corresponding population or demographic change to support this. As a result, our planning officers and, indeed, our elected members, find it extremely difficult to meet the obligations of these targets, therein allowing free reign for developers to submit applications on sites outside of the LDP and happy then to go on to appeal with your planning inspectorate. This policy will destroy our communities and makes an absolute mockery of the years and expense that local authorities have put into providing this Government with their copy LDP. Will you accept the implications of this guidance that you have implemented, and will you please reverse this policy at the first opportunity as part of your revision of planning policy going forward?

The Member will be aware that I'm out to consultation on 'Planning Policy Wales' at the moment. It finishes a week on Friday, on the eighteenth. Aside of that, I have said that I will look at TAN 1, and I do expect to be making an announcement in the very near future. I hear your criticisms, and I've heard many criticisms of the methodology we use around TAN 1, but I'm still convinced that issues associated with non-delivery do lie in the plan-making process. So, I don't want to say anything today, but I am expecting advice from my officials, certainly this month, and I will be making an announcement.