Empty Dwellings in Cardiff

Part of 3. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 3:09 pm on 11 December 2018.

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Photo of David Melding David Melding Conservative 3:09, 11 December 2018

Cabinet Secretary, I do think this is an important area of public policy. Depending on how you count empty homes—whether they're empty after six months or a shorter period—there's somewhere between 23,000 and 43,000 empty properties in Wales. In my area, Rhondda Cynon Taf has nearly 500 properties that have been empty for five years—that's the worst of any authority apart from Swansea. It's quite remarkable that around Wales there are well over 1,100 properties that have been empty for 10 years. So, it is very important, as we need to emphasise the need to build more homes, that we do use the homes that are out there as efficiently as possible.