4. Will the First Minister make a statement on Welsh Government funding for social housing? OAQ52646

Social housing has always been and always will be, of course, a fundamental priority for this Government. We've never moved away from supporting those in greatest need, which is why we are making record investment in social housing in the term of this Government.

First Minister, you no doubt would have heard the Prime Minister's announcement for £2 billion for social homes in England and she emphasised her pride in social housing, and I think we should all share that pride. It's been at the heart of the great house-building programmes throughout the last century. Sadly, it's tailed off in the twenty-first century. As part of the UK Government's commitment to transform house building, it will give assured funding to housing associations, giving them long-term certainty to invest. And this is something that they've called for repeatedly here in Wales. So, under the English scheme, associations will be able to apply for funding stretching as far ahead as 2028-29.

Now, when we get the Barnett consequential—these moneys do come on-stream in the 2020s—will you make a similar commitment to ring-fence this money for social housing and sort out the grant schemes to housing associations, so that they can invest for the long term and, at last, lead us to an age where we build enough houses for the people who need to live in them?

Well, there are—. I have the greatest respect for the Member, but coming from a party that sold off so much social housing and didn't replace it, and caused many of the problems we face now in first place, I do have to take that with a large pinch of salt. Two thing I'd say to him: firstly, it is not clear whether there will be a Barnett consequential yet. We know that the UK Government are masters and mistresses of sleight of hand and will make funding announcements and then say this money is being found from within a department. In which case, we get no Barnett consequential at all. 'We don't know', is the answer to that yet. And secondly, of course, this is for 2022. I can't make commitments for any Governments in place post 2021, not least because of the fact that I won't be here. So, that will be a matter for any incoming Government.

So much for the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

I recognise that your Government is carrying out an independent study at the moment into the definition of 'affordable housing', but I think the problem that has existed over the years with that is that new estates are developed in Wales that don't, according to a local definition, amount to what is 'affordable' locally. Before the summer I raised with you the fact that Help to Buy allowed many families to upgrade their homes—families that perhaps don't need that funding support. As part of the review that you're currently conducting as a Government, would you look into this issue? Because perhaps there would be more funding available for affordable housing if some of those funds went into creating more social housing in our communities.

Our review will look at a great many issues in order to ensure that the policy is correct, but there is a difference between social housing and affordable housing, because if houses are affordable, some people will rent them and others will buy them. So, we must ensure that there is a choice for people where they can make that choice. That means that there should be a mixture of housing available—some social housing, of course; perhaps others may offer shared equity; others may have a community land trust running the estate itself in order to keep the prices down. So, the aim is to ensure that there is a broad choice available as regards the type of housing available. We have already committed to a major investment in social housing, and also we're looking at how we can help those who are looking to buy but can't afford to do so at present. 

First Minister, given that the size of social housing stock has declined dramatically since 1980 when the right to buy was introduced, resulting in longer waiting times for people in housing need, will you join me in welcoming the end to right to buy by a Welsh Labour Government via the Abolition of the Right to Buy and Associated Rights (Wales) Act 2018? Will you also welcome Welsh Government investment in social housing in my constituency, the Vale of Glamorgan, including not only extensive investment through our social housing grant to housing associations, but the building of new council housing by, in fact, what was then a Labour council running the Vale of Glamorgan, and also, importantly, £2.8 billion major repairs allowance to enable the Vale of Glamorgan Council to bring social housing up to the Welsh housing quality standard? 

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.