Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 25 September 2018.
I was fortunate enough to join the Member in Gibbonsdown where we saw the refurbishment work that was taking place there. A lot of people, of course, were delighted with what they saw there. I've always said that if you try and build social housing while at the same time still having the right to buy, it's like filling up the bath with the plug out, except for the whole of the 1980s the Tories let the plug out and didn't leave the taps on at all. You can't replace your housing stock if you allow it to be sold at a rate that doesn't allow you to keep up. It's one of the reasons why we saw so much homelessness that particularly began in the 1980s, because public housing wasn't available. In Powys, I think I remember reading, around half of the public housing stock was lost and never replaced. How on earth can that be fair on people in rural areas, particularly when it's difficult to buy in some rural areas because people move in with lots of money from elsewhere and local people can't compete? So, it's hugely important that we ensure that there's a proper supply of public housing and that does mean, of course, creating a situation where public housing remains just that—public.